proclamation
Americannoun
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proclamations
plural
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something that is proclaimed; a public and official announcement.
-
the act of proclaiming.
Usage
What does proclamation mean? A proclamation is an official announcement made in public. Proclamation is the noun form of the verb proclaim, meaning to announce or declare something in an official or formal manner. Proclamations are typically made by public officials. Like the similar word announcement, proclamation is often used with the verb make. Example: The mayor called a press conference to issue a proclamation declaring an official citywide day of celebration for the new champions of baseball.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of proclamation
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English proclamacioun (from Middle French proclamacion, ) from Latin prōclāmātiōn- (stem of prōclāmātiō ), equivalent to prōclāmāt(us) (past participle of prōclāmāre “to cry out, proclaim ”) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A proclamation is a formal public statement. If the mayor of your town issued a proclamation honoring the state champion field hockey team, this is an official statement of praise and celebration. A major statement made in front of an audience or the authoritative word on some subject is a proclamation. It's usually used in an official or government context, although an ordinary person can also make a proclamation, like your proclamation that you'll never dance again after your embarrassment at last week's hip hop recital. The root is proclaim, declare publicly, though the i is dropped in proclamation.
Vocabulary lists containing proclamation
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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The American Civil War
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The Emancipation Proclamation (1862)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They sought to satisfy Polish national ambitions, for example, with the proclamation of a Kingdom of Poland in late 1916.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The politicians presented them with a Congressional Record recognition and state proclamation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
President Trump signed a proclamation Thursday that will set a 15% tariff on imports of the solar-energy materials and equipment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
After the result was declared on Friday, his party appealed against the electoral court's proclamation, calling for the vote to be nullified.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
“This was the final culmination of the women’s fight,” she said, “and women, irrespective of factions, should have been allowed to be present when the proclamation was signed.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Not that many of governors are hiding their intentions in their statements and proclamations.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Among the proclamations of the first French republic was an end to slavery in its island possessions—a forerunner of wider abolition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Around Angel’s old barber chair, just about every inch of wall space is occupied by proclamations and photos.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
The court starts with grand judicial maximalist proclamations from the founding about how it’s the duty of courts, especially Virginia courts, to decide legal questions.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
But among them, his former pupils, excited by the high-sounding proclamations, the determination reigned to sacrifice their skins for a lost cause.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
