| 释义 |
▪ I. honour, honor, n.|ˈɒnə(r)|
Forms: 3–4 onur, honur(e, 4 onour(e, 4–6 honoure, -owre, (5 onnere, 5–6 honnour(e, 6 honnor), 3– honour, 4– honor.
[a. OF. onor, -ur, honor, -ur (11th c.), AF. (h)onour, mod.F. honneur (= It. onore, Sp., Pg. honor):—L. honōr-em repute, esteem, official dignity, honorary gift, ornament, grace, beauty.
The oldest Fr. forms were onor, onur, later and AF. onour (Latin h having disappeared in Romanic, and o, u, ou being successive symbols for the OFr. vowel, derived from L. ō, which passed through a very close ō to ū); these varied with enor, anor, -ur, -our, whence the early ME. anur, anour (see anour, anoure); but the influence of L. spelling brought back into Fr. at an early date the non-phonetic h, giving honor, honur, honour, which were also prevalent ME. spellings. Honor and honour continued to be equally frequent down to the 17th c. In the Shakespeare Folio of 1623 honor is about twice as frequent as honour. The two forms appear indiscriminately in the early 17th c. dictionaries, but honour was favoured by Phillips, Kersey, Bailey, Johnson. Ash, 1775, adopted ‘Honor (a modern but correct spelling)’, and this is said to have been fashionable at the time (see quots.). Nevertheless honour carried the majority of English suffrages eventually, while honor was (under the lead of Noah Webster) generally accepted in U.S. As to derivatives, Bailey, 1731, considered honorable, honorary, ‘the best spelling’, but referred them to honourable, honourary, as the more usual. Phillips, in his various edd., had honorary, Kersey (1706) honourary or honorary, Chambers (1727–41) honourary. Johnson, 1755, has honour, honourable, honorary.
1758L. Temple Sketches (ed. 2) 19 Our Reformers in the Art of Spelling..at present..write Honor, Favor, Labor. a1791Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 317 Avoid the fashionable impropriety of leaving out the u in many words, as honor, vigor, etc. This is mere childish affectation. 1871R. F. Weymouth Euph. 6 The clause ‘they hang that are in honour’ suggests the suspicion that Lilie would aspirate the h in honour and its congeners; a suspicion confirmed by our finding elsewhere unwholesome balanced against unhonest, and hue against honesty.]
1. High respect, esteem, or reverence, accorded to exalted worth or rank; deferential admiration or approbation.
a. As felt or entertained in the mind for some person or thing.
c1375Leg. Rood 123 Men suld hald þat haly tre In honore. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6957 Gude men him in honour had. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 51 Good Paulina, Who hast the memorie of Hermione I know in honor. 1664Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 164 Desirous of shewing..the great honour She retains and cherishes for Your Majesty. 1713Steele Guardian No. 1 ⁋3 To shew my honour for them. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1837) III. 76 Honor implies a reverence for the invisible and super-sensual in our nature. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 2 True wealth I hold in great honour.
b. As rendered or shown: The expression of high estimation. (See also 9 c, e.)
c1275Lay. 6085 Hii..leide hine mid honure Heȝe in þan toure. a1300Cursor M. 23586 Heuen and erth als creature Sal ber þam wirscip and honur. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 720, I aw the honor and servyse. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings Contents xxiii, How Iosias..setteth vp the true honoure of God againe. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxix. 154 The Prince was exceedingly pleased with this honour done unto him. 1759Robertson Hist. Scot. I. iii. 174 He received the queen herself with the utmost honour and respect. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xv. 304 Let then the honour be given where it is due.
c. As received, gained, held, or enjoyed: Glory, renown, fame; credit, reputation, good name. The opposite of dishonour, disgrace.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 83 Hie giuen here elmesse..oðer for onur to hauen, oðer ne mai elles for shame. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8176 Deie we raþer wiþ onour. 1475Bk. Noblesse (1860) 26 The hope and trust of recovering on another day..onnere and fortune. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 134 The duchesse of Bedford..myndyng also to marye, rather for pleasure then for honour. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 246 But thou preferr'st thy Life before thine Honor. 1617F. Moryson Itin. ii. 164 Wounds are badges of honour, yet may befall the coward assoone as the valiant man. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. xviii. 467 The honour of originally inventing these political constitutions entirely belongs to the Romans. 1820G. W. Featherstonehaugh in Sir J. Sinclair's Corr. (1831) II. 73, I have the honour to forward to you..a pamphlet [etc.]. 1822Southey Vis. Judgem. iii, Peace is obtain'd then at last, with safety and honour! 1878Edith Thompson Hist. Eng. xv. §3. 82 To their honour, the patriot nobles did not take thought for themselves alone. 1896J. Bryce in Daily News 20 July 7/4 A country feels that its honour is affected when it yields to threats, seems to give way on any disputed point through fear, and incurs the imputation of cowardice.
2. a. Personal title to high respect or esteem; honourableness; elevation of character; ‘nobleness of mind, scorn of meanness, magnanimity’ (J.); a fine sense of and strict allegiance to what is due or right (also, to what is due according to some conventional or fashionable standard of conduct).
1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 233 b, The king of England had so great trust..in the honor and promise of the French kyng. 1649Lovelace Poems (1864) 27, I could not love thee, dear, so much, Lov'd I not Honour more. a1677Barrow Theol. Wks. (1830) I. 89 A man of honour, surely is the best man next to a man of conscience. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. iii. 111 The Japanese make it a point of honour to breed Merchants. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. II. 94 What is Honour, but a greatness of mind which scorns to descend to an ill and base thing? 1764–7G. Lyttelton Hen. II, III. 178 The idea of honor..as something distinct from mere probity, and which supposes in gentlemen a stronger abhorrence of perfidy, falsehood, or cowardice, and a more elevated and delicate sense of the dignity of virtue, than are usually found in vulgar minds. 1809Wordsw. Sonn., Say, what is Honour? 'Tis the finest sense Of justice which the human mind can frame. 1824Scott Redgauntlet ch. ix, Honour is sometimes found among thieves. 1880W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 460 The sentiment of Honour is a lay thing; it is a rival of the sentiment of saintliness.
b. A statement or promise made on one's honour; word of honour. arch.
1658–9Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 6 You took the honour of a Lord the other day. You may well take the word of a gentleman now. 1708S. Centlivre Busie Body i. (1749) 21 He had given her his Honour, that he never would..Endeavour to know her till she gave him leave. 1825Moore in Mem. (1853) IV. 309 Having first made the prince and all the rest give their honours that they would not [etc.].
3. a. (Of a woman) Chastity, purity, as a virtue of the highest consideration; reputation for this virtue, good name.
1390Gower Conf. III. 24 So as she may..Her honour and her name save. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 6 Nathlesse her honor, dearer then her life, She sought to save, as thing reserv'd from stealth. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 348 Till thou didst seeke to violate The honor of my childe. 1675Wycherley Country Wife ii. Wks. (Rtldg.) 77/2 To neglect her own honour, and defame her own noble person with little inconsiderable fellows. 1747Hoadley Susp. Husb. i. ii, And yet I'll answer for her Honour. 1856Bouvier Law Dict. I. 589 To deprive a woman of her honor is, in some cases, punished as a public wrong.
†b. concr.: cf. Ger. die scham. Obs.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 94/2 These Buskes..if to keep the Belly down, then it reacheth to the Honor. 1724Weekly Jrnl. No. 276 Her What, in Heroicks, we call Honour.
4. a. Exalted rank or position; dignity, distinction.
a1300Cursor M. 487 And þus he [Lucifer] leses his gret honur. Ibid. 24713 Chamburlain o grett honure. a1440Sir Degrev. 283 Knyghtus..Lordus off honore. 1534More On the Passion Wks. 1286/2 Gyuing to a poore man..landes..with the honour of a dukedome also. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 350 They would not..disgrade him from the honor of Knighthood. 1595Shakes. John i. i. 182 A foot of Honor better then I was, But many a many foot of Land the worse. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 185 The affect of honour being somewhat a-kin to that of gold, whereof the more one hath the more he covets. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. vii. (1809) 271 The king is likewise the fountain of honour. 1857Miss Mulock Nothing, Fam. in Love, It is the apex of feminine honour to be a bride.
b. With possessive pronoun, = ‘honourable personality’: formerly (and still in rustic speech) given to any person of rank or quality; now a formal title for the holders of certain offices, esp. County Court judges.
1553Gresham in Burgon Life (1839) I. 98, I received your honnor's letter of the 24th of this present. 1577J. Langley in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 51 My dutie humblye remembred to your Honor [Lord Burghley]. 1607Shakes. Timon i. ii. 183, I beseech your Honor, vouchsafe me a word. a1612Harington Let. to Lady Russell in Metam. Ajax (1813) p. xv, Your honors most bownde John Harington. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 29 What greater honour can your Honors desire? 1723Steele Consc. Lovers iv. i, Ah! says I, Sir, your Honour is pleas'd to joke with me. 1755Johnson, Honour,..3 The title of a man of rank. Not now used. 1785Burns Earnest Cry xxiv, God bless your honours a' your days. 1796G. M. Woodward Eccent. Excurs. 83 Indeed the title of Your Honor is bandied about and indiscriminately used. 1827Jarman Powell's Devises II. 179 That part of his honor's decision which gave the estate to the trustees. 1832H. Martineau Weal or W. iv. 38 Indeed, but they have, your honour. 1833Marryat P. Simple xiii, (Irishman) Plase your honour, it's all an idea of mine. 1885Tennyson Tomorrow 1896Law Times 11 July 261/2 At Bow County Court on the 6th inst., before Judge French, Mr. Sharman..applied to his Honour to direct [etc.]. Mod. (Beggar). Has your honour a copper to spare for a poor man?
5. a. (Usually in pl.) Something conferred or done as a token of respect or distinction; a mark or manifestation of high regard; esp. a position or title of rank, a degree of nobility, a dignity.
13..K. Alis. 1388 [1391] He..ȝaf vche lordyng gret honoure, And parted wiþ hem his fader tresoure. c1440Gesta Rom. xlv. 176 (Harl. MS.) He yede forthe to bataile, and had þe victorye; and after took boþe honoures and dolours, as is seide befor. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. viii. 63 Keepe it fellow, And weare it for an Honor in thy Cappe. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 48 The English Agents receive custome of all strangers, that honour being granted them from the Persian King. 1663Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 91 A clause to be entered against buying and selling of honours. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus iv. 56 Divine Honors were payd him. 1806Wordsw. Char. Happy Warrior 44 Who..does not stoop, nor lie in wait For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 126 Papists were admitted in crowds to offices and honors.
†b. An obeisance; a bow or curtsy. Obs.
1531Elyot Gov. i. xxii, The first meuyng in euery daunse is called honour, whiche is a reuerent inclination or curtaisie, with a longe deliberation or pause. 1605Chapman All Fooles Plays 1873 I. 136, I..plant my selfe of one legg Draw backe the tother with a deep fetcht honor. 1719D'Urfey Pills (1872) II. 171 Make your Honour Miss, Now to me Child. 1741Richardson Pamela II. 360 They..made their Honours very prettily, as they pass'd by us. 1805E. de Acton Nuns of Desert I. 113 He walked onward, without deigning to make a departing honour.
c. pl. Civilities or courtesies rendered, as at an entertainment: in phr. to do the honours.
1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 177 Received with respect..at Amsterdam, where that illustrious Magistracy performed the honours of the Republick. 1715Vanbrugh Country Ho. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 462/1 This son of a whore does the honours of my house to a miracle. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. i. vi. 100 Then hire a Slave, or (if you will) a Lord, To do the Honours, and to give the Word. 1768in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury I. 168 The Duchesse..did the honours of the table, or rather received them, as ladies here never interfere with carving. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. iii, The Prince did the honours of the castle to Vivian with great courtesy. 1857Dickens Lett. 15 Sept., The mayor called this morning to do the honours of the town.
d. last, funeral honours: the observances of respect usual at the burial of the dead. military honours: the external marks of respect paid by troops to royalty, high military or civil officials, at the burial of an officer, etc. honours of war: the privileges granted by a victorious commander to a capitulating force, as of marching out under arms with colours flying and drums beating; also formerly = military honours.
1513More Rich. III (1883) 1 This noble Prince..with greate funerall honoure..was entered at Windesor. 1674tr. Martiniere's Voy. N. Countries 57 Doing him his last honour. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Funeral honours, are the ceremonies performed at the interments of great men; as hangings, hearses, funeral harangues, etc. 1756–7[see funeral A. 1]. 1790Bruce Trav. II. iv. 401 As soon as the prince Facilidas had paid the last honours to his father. 1813in Gurw. Wellington's Desp. XI. 101 note, The French troops shall file out tomorrow..with all the honors of war, with arms and baggage, and drums beating, to the outside, where they will lay down their arms. 1853Stocqueler Mil. Dict. s.v., In another sense, the ‘honours of war’ signifyeth compliments which are paid to great personages, military characters, etc., when they appear before any armed body of men; or such as are given to the remains of a deceased officer.—Military Honours, are salutations to crowned heads and officers of rank, by dropping colours and standards, officers saluting, bands playing, artillery discharging salvoes, etc. 1855Trollope Warden xi, She capitulated, or rather marched out with the honours of war.
e. pl. Special distinction gained, in a University or other examination, for proficiency in scholarship beyond that required to pass the examination. Now, in many universities, a course of study or a series of examinations in a subject or group of subjects of a higher or more specialized character than is required for a pass or ordinary degree. (Cf. honours degree, school in 10.)
1782V. Knox Ess. in C. Wordsw. Schol. Acad. 232 If he aspires at higher honours. 1790Gooch Ibid. 321 Peacock kept a very capital Act indeed, and had a very splendid Honor. 1802–6Cox Recoll. Oxford 49 Several shy men of first-rate scholarship shrunk from ‘challenging the Honours’ (as the phrase was). a1819Oxford Spy (ed. 4) xxi, A man, who gains the highest honours. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 341 A private tutor's fee, an expense which is seldom incurred except by those who are preparing for honours. 1847James Convict i, You had taken high honours at this university. 1856Lever Martins of Cro'M. 86 There were clever men reading for honours. 1880Trollope Duke's Children I. iii. 33 He..had gone out in honours, having been a second class man. 1883(title) The Honours Register of the University of Oxford. A Record of University Honours and Distinctions.
6. a. A person, thing, action, or attribute that confers honour; a source or cause of honour; one who or that which does honour or credit (to).
[a1330Otuel 473 It hadde be more honour to þe, For soþe to habbe i-smite me. c1450Merlin 580 So that it myght be savacion to theire soules..and honour to theire bodyes.] a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 62 Erasmus the honor of learning of all oure time. 1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. i. i. Wks. 1878 I. 9 Nephew, you are the honour of our bloud. 1798Ferriar Illustr. Sterne vi. 176 It is an honour to think like great men. 1894Ian Maclaren Bonnie Brier Bush vii. ii. 265 You are an honour to our profession.
b. (Usually in pl.) An adjunct or part of anything which gives it distinction; a decoration, adornment, ornament. (poetic.)
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 354 He..beares his blushing Honors thicke vpon him. 1625Fletcher Noble Gent. v. Wks. (Rtldg.) II. 278/2 With the whisking of my sword about, I take thy honours off. 1725Pope Odyss. xi. 235 The autumn..The leafy honours scattering on the ground. Ibid. xviii. 182 He shook the graceful honours of his head. 1784Cowper Task i. 321 The woods, in scarlet honors bright.
7. Law. A seigniory of several manors held under one baron or lord paramount.
1439Rolls Parlt. V. 16/1 Tenauntz of oure Lorde the Kynge, as of his Castell and Honure of Tutbury, parcell of his Duchie of Lancaster. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. x. (1539) 15 The lorde of the honour or manour. 1641Termes de la Ley, Honour..is used specially for the most noble sort of Lordships, whereof other inferiour Lordships or Manors doe depend by performance of customes and services. 1655Digges Compl. Ambass. 17 Given under our signet at our Honour of Hampton Court. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4424/4 The Humble Address of the Honour and Borough of Cockermouth, in the County of Cumberland. 1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) I. 215 If several of these manors were held..under one great baron or lord paramount, his seigniory over them was termed an honor.
8. a. Cards. (Chiefly pl.) In Whist, The four highest trumps (ace, king, queen, and knave): the relative proportion in which they are held by the two sides being an element in counting the points in some forms of the game: cf. can you?; easy a. 18. In Ombre and Quadrille, The aces of spades and clubs, and the lowest card of the trump suit. Also at Bridge (see quots. 1909 and 1936). Phr. honours are even: often used fig. to denote equality in a contest (real or imaginary).
1674Cotton Compl. Gamester x. (1680) 82 The four Honours are the Ace, King, Queen, and Knave. 1741Richardson Pamela II. 259 We cast in, and..I had all four Honours the first time. 1778C. Jones Hoyle's Games Impr. 47 It being 5 to 4 that your Partner has an Honour in that Suit. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 63 Well—four by honours, and the trick! 1878H. H. Gibbs Ombre 12 The Ace of Clubs called Basto both in English and Spanish, is the Third Honour even though another suit may be trumps. Ibid. 14 The Matadores when united in the same hand may be called Honours. 1886Biritch, or Russian Whist 4 There are five honours, viz.:—Ace, King, Queen, Knave and Ten, if trumps are declared. 1896Maitland in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 643 The honours were divided; but the state, as by this time its habit was, took the odd trick. 1909W. Dalton ‘Saturday’ Bridge 5 Honours consist of ace, king, queen, knave, and ten of the trump suit. When there are no trumps they consist of the four aces. 1920B. Cronin Timber Wolves iii. 62, ‘I don't know your name?’..‘But then I don't know yours, do I? That makes the honours even, don't you think?’ 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 31 The card-expressions now most prevalent in a figurative application are drawn in the main from bridge, e.g. to call one's hand (or one's bluff), to finesse, Honours are even, After you, partner, etc. 1936E. Culbertson Contract Bridge Complete xxxviii. 421 An honour-card is technically a ten or higher card. 1939N. de V. Hart Bridge Players' Bedside Bk. 22, I got home by playing for split honours. 1947S. Harris Fund. Princ. Contract Bridge ii. i. 43 South should remember to lead a top honour from the hand which contains double honours in sequence. 1967P. Anderton Play Bridge vii. 49 You drop 100 points on going down but get 100 for honours.
b. Golf. (See quot.)
1896Park Game of Golf 6 This privilege of playing first from the Tee is called ‘the honour’.
9. Phrases.
a. Comm. for (the) honour (of{ddd}): said of the acceptance or payment of a bill of exchange (which has been refused by the drawee and duly protested) by a third party, with the object of preserving the mercantile honour or credit of the drawer or indorser. act of honour, an instrument drawn by a notary public by which such payment or acceptance is formally agreed upon.
1832–52McCulloch Commerc. Dict. 583 When the drawee refuses to accept [a bill of exchange], any third party, after protesting, may accept for the honour of the bill generally, or for the drawee, or for the indorser. 1882Act 45 & 46 Vict. c. 61 §65 Where an acceptance for honour does not expressly state for whose honour it is made, it is deemed to be an acceptance for the honour of the drawer.
b. in honour: in allegiance to the moral principles which are imperative in one's position, or to some conventional standard of conduct (see 2); as a moral bounden duty: sometimes implying that there is no legal obligation (cf. debt of honour).
1597Shakes. Lover's Compl. 150 Finding myself in honour so forbid. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 40 His Master esteemed himselfe obliged in honour to requite the injury. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. xxxvi, Young Ladies under twenty..being in Honour obliged to blush. 1883Wharton's Law Lex. 388/2 Honorary Trustees..are bound, in honour only, to decide on the most proper and prudential course.
c. in honour of († in or to the honour of, in honour to): as an expression of respect or reverence for; for the sake of honouring; in celebration of.
c1300St. Margarete 279 If eni man in honour of me eni chapel doþ rere. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 81 Ye see I do yt in the honour Of love. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 Diuyded in to thre bokes, in the honour of the Trinite. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 834 The Divel..in honour of whom they sacrifice their Captives. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. (1646) i. 37 A goodly Temple erected to the honor of St. Thomas the Apostle. 1788C. Reeve Exiles II. 158 To..keep every thing in good repair, in honour to the memory of the noble benefactors. 1897Hall Caine Christian x, I believe this rout to-night is expressly in honour of the event.
d. on or upon one's honour: a phrase by which the speaker stakes his personal title to credit and estimation on the truth of his statement; used formally by members of the House of Lords in their judicial capacity; hence, an expression of strong assurance: cf. 2 b. to be upon (his) honour, to put a person upon his honour, i.e. under honourable obligation.
a1460Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Lond. Cit. (Camden) 119 The for sayde captaynys have sworne a-pon hyr honowre that [etc.]. 1485Rolls Parlt. VI. 288/1 Yee shall swere, that [etc.]..upon youre Honour and Worship. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 17 Assuryng hym on his honour that if [etc.]. 1656–7Burton's Diary 10 Jan. (1828) I. 335 Promising, upon her honour, to return within six weeks. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. xii. (1800) 402 A peer sitting in judgment, gives not his verdict upon oath, like an ordinary juryman, but upon his honour: he answers also to bills in chancery upon his honour. 1856Bouvier Law Dict. I. 589 In courts of equity, peers, peeresses and lords of parliament, answer on their honor only. 1862Thackeray Wks. (1872) X. 194 This I declare upon my honour. Mod. They were upon their honour not to tell.
e. to do honour to: (a) to treat with honour, show or pay due respect to, confer honour upon, to honour; (b) to do credit to, bring respect to.
c1320R. Brunne Medit. 1131 We onely hym þanke and do hym onoure. c1400Destr. Troy 4659 Agamynon..To Diana full derely did his honowre. c1425Seven Sag. (P.) 531 Thow doost thy selfe lytil honour, For to suffyre thy sone by slawe. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 75 To se his estate and dooe hym honor. a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 189 His late Majesty..doing me one day the honour to discourse about several marine observations. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. lxxxii, Mr. Colly Cibber, who does too much Honour to the Laurel Crown he deservedly wears. 1898E. E. Hale in Chr. World 19 May 7/4 He did me the honour to say that this was precisely true.
f. to do the honours, last honours, etc.: see 5 c, d.
g. honour bright (colloq.): used as a protestation of (or interrogatively as an appeal to) one's honour or sincerity.
1819Moore Tom Crib 36 (Farmer) At morning meet, and—honour bright,—Agree to share the blunt and tatters. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge viii, ‘I do’, said the 'prentice, ‘Honour bright. No chaff, you know’. 1852Geo. Eliot in Cross Life (1885) I. 293 Is it not so, honour bright? 1856Emerson Eng. Traits vii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 52 The phrase of the lowest of the people is ‘honour-bright’, and their vulgar praise ‘his word is as good as his bond’.
h. code or law of honour: the set of rules and customs which regulate the conduct of some particular class of person according to a conventional standard of honour: see 2.
1785Paley Mor. Philos. i. ii. (1830) 2 The Law of Honour is a system of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to facilitate their intercourse with one another; and for no other purpose. 1843Lever J. Hinton xviii. (1878) 126 They know how imperative is the code of honour as regards a bet. 1887Fowler Princ. Mor. ii. iv, Similarly, lawyers, doctors, clergymen, bankers are said to have a code of honour, or, what amounts to the same thing, to observe certain rules of professional etiquette.
i. court of honour: a court or tribunal for determining questions concerning the laws or principles of honour, as the courts of chivalry which formerly existed in Europe.
1687Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 413 His majestie haveing required the duke of Norfolk, earl marshall of England, to hold..a court of honour, his grace hath appointed the 5th of Octob. next to keep it. 1768Blackstone Comm. III. vii. (1800) 104 This court of chivalry..As a court of honour, it is to give satisfaction to all such as are aggrieved in that point. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 4 Your valuable Journal serves, among other useful purposes, as a Court of Honour, to which any Member of the Faculty may appeal, respecting the misconduct of another.
For other phrases, as affair, bed, debt, legion, maid, point, word of honour, etc., see these words.
10. Comb., as honour-giver, honour-seeker; honour-fired, honour-flawed, honour-giving, honour-owing, honour-splitted, honour-thirsty, honour-worthy adjs.; also honour(s) board, a board at a school or college on which are inscribed the names of members who have gained honours; honour-court, a court held within an honour or seigniory (sense 7); honours degree, an academic degree with honours or obtained in an honour school; similarly honours examination; honour(s) list, (a) a class list of candidates who have been successful in an examination for honours; (b) a list of honours conferred by the Sovereign, as at the New Year; also fig.; honour-man (also honours-man), one who has taken, or is studying for, academical honours (sense 5 e); honour-point (Her.), the point just above the fess-point of an escutcheon; honour-policy: see quot.; honour-roll, a roll of honour; honour(s) school, a course of study designed for those who aim at an honours (as distinguished from a pass) degree (at Oxford University, ‘qui honorem ambiunt’); similarly honour moderations, colloq. honour mods.; honour system, a system in which examinations are completed, services paid for, etc., without, or with only a minimum of, supervision; honour-trick Bridge, a combination of cards which may be expected to win a trick.
1931E. Waugh Remote People 211 They have *honour boards, on which the name of one boy is inscribed every year. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day vi. 129 My name was never inscribed on the University Honours Board in the Big School.
1670Blount Law Dict., *Honor Courts, are Courts held within the Honors aforesaid.
1851Oxf. Univ. Cal. 127 A reference will be made in the lists of *Honours and ordinary Degrees, to the distinctions awarded by the Moderators. 1904Daily Chron. 31 Oct. 4/4, I cannot deal here with the wholly false and mischievous qualification of an ‘Honours Degree’ that the rich women are answerable for. 1969Oxf. Univ. Handbk. 159 About one third of the students at Oxford are working for honours degrees in mathematics or natural science.
[1852Oxf. Univ. Commission Rep. iii. 62 With regard to the Examination for Honours, the course of classical reading seems to have become more and more limited.] 1885Oxf. Univ. Cal. p. iii, *Honours Examinations for Women. 1927C. E. Mallet Hist. Univ. Oxf. III. xxiii. 168 The Honours Examination at Oxford was established. Ibid. 170 In 1830, a Fourth Class in Honours was provided, and the Honours examination was separated from the examination for the ordinary Pass degree. 1972Univ. Oxf. Exam. Decrees 33 No person whose name shall be placed in any Class List issued by the Moderators shall be admitted again as a candidate in the same Honours Examination.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 143 Be she *honor-flaw'd.
1595― John i. i. 53 The *Honor⁓giuing-hand Of Cordelion.
1849Thackeray Pendennis I. xix. 179 A man may be famous in the *Honours-lists and entirely unknown to the undergraduates. 1862Oxf. Univ. Cal. 273 Honours Lists issued by Moderators. 1910H. G. Wells New Machiavelli (1911) iii. i. 304 The New Year and Birthday honours lists are always very sagely and exhaustively considered. 1923J. M. Murry Pencillings 272 It will dawn upon me when I read my own name in capitals at the top of the Honours List, created Baron for my services to literature. 1929Melody Maker Dec. 1169/1 This disc goes right into the honours list. 1964Granta 2 Nov., He hoped as it was Coronation year to do rather better than usual in the New Year's honours list.
1839J. Romilly Diary 12 Jan. (1967) 161 This year we have allowed our Lecture rooms to the *Honor-men. 1880Times 12 Nov. 8 It represents to the honour-man, whose attainments are not classical, the goal of his studies in that direction. 1891Daily News 26 Sept. 7/5 A Cambridge honoursman will..read with pupils.
1911Rep. Brit. Assoc. 219 It has been suggested that if students are not encouraged to come to the university younger the better men should be allowed to enter for *Honour Mods. after six months. 1913Honour mods. [see Divvers]. 1922Rep. R. Comm. Oxf. & Camb. 29 The marked vitality of *Honour Classical Moderations bears witness to the interest still awakened by the classical languages and literatures. 1965W. R. Ward Victorian Oxford x. 213 Scholarship was now examined at Honour Moderations and the final school was left unencumbered for the examination of history and philosophy. 1970Oxf. Univ. Cal. 195 The prizes are awarded each year by the Moderators for Honour Moderations in English Language and Literature.
1610J. Guillim Heraldry i. vii. (1660) 41 The *Honour Point. 1661Morgan Sph. Gentry i. i. 2 The middle point of an escotcheon is called the Honour-point.
1895Sir W. R. Kennedy in Law Times Rep. LXXII. 861/1 All these ‘disbursements’ policies were p. p. i. or ‘*honour’ policies—policies, that is to say, wherein it was stipulated that the policy should be deemed sufficient proof of interest.
1909Daily Chron. 7 Apr. 3/3 Such is the *honour-roll of these sturdy spirits. 1949Honor roll [see bulletin 4].
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 603/2 At Oxford there are now the following ‘*Final Honour Schools’. 1923Granta 2 Mar., At Oxford the Honours School of English claims that its ‘first’ is harder to win than a ‘first’ in any other School there. 1965W. R. Ward Victorian Oxford x. 220 Rawlinson alleged that the standard in the non-classical honour schools would be less than the proposed mixed degree. 1970Oxf. Univ. Cal. 194 Candidates must be members of the University reading for a Final Honour School.
a1871Grote Eth. Fragm. v. (1876) 141 Aristotle admits (into his catalogue of pleasurable pursuits) the life of the *honour-seeker.
1904Pittsburgh Gaz. 3 Dec. 4 The most successful plan of combating the tendency of college students to cheat in examinations has been some form of an ‘*honor system’ by which the pupil is implicitly trusted and his statement accepted that he used no dishonest aids. 1934H. G. Wells Exper. Autobiogr. I. vi. 323 He had in operation an honour system of discipline that was far in advance of the times. 1936S.P.E. Tract xlv. 181 Honor system denotes the practice, adopted at certain institutions, of conducting written examinations without supervision, the candidates being put upon their honour to use no illegitimate aids. 1958Sunday Times 16 Mar. 22/5 Self-service stores must run on the honour system. 1966Listener 24 Feb. 266/2 On the buses and trams an ‘honour’ system: you throw your money into a coin box..and tear off your own ticket. 1969‘E. Lathen’ Come to Dust xiv. 140 Two young women had been discovered.. in circumstances all too clearly proscribed by the parietal rules and Brunswick's honor system.
1580Sidney Arcadia vi. (1590) 486 *Honour-thirstie minds.
1931E. Culbertson Contract Bridge at Glance 6 A defensive *honour-trick is a card, or combination of cards, which may be expected to win even if the opponents play the hand at a trump. 1959Reese & Dormer Bridge Player's Dict. 116 The Culbertson system, which first popularized the honor-trick method of valuation, uses the following table for counting honor-tricks.
1535Coverdale Song 3 Child. 22 That thou only art the Lorde God, & *honoure worthy thorow out all the worlde. 1609J. Rawlinson Fishermen Fishers of Men Ep. Ded., Your most honoured and honour-worthy Father.
▸ honour killing n. the killing of a person over something perceived as a matter of honour; spec. the killing of a (usually female) relative perceived to have brought dishonour upon the family, associated especially with certain cultures in which familial honour is of paramount importance; an instance of this.
1929Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 23 Jan. 1/2 (heading) Pair testify in ‘*honor killing’. 1929Los Angeles Times 16 Dec. i. 3/6 (heading) Mexico under revised code... Honor killing allowed and death penalty removed. 1981Washington Post 11 Oct. a31/1 ‘A silent death,’ the term applied to the discreet burials in upper Egypt's timeless villages after the honor killings that sometimes follow family troubles, such as a compromised daughter or a suspect wife. 1999Time 8 Mar. 64/1 In parts of Latin America and the Middle East, ‘honor killings’ of wayward daughters or sisters are common and treated indulgently by the courts. 2004J. H. Momsen Gender & Devel. 97 Dilber Kina's death was an ‘honour killing’, a practice occurring with increasing frequency in cities across Turkey and in other developing countries.
▪ II. honour, honor, v.|ˈɒnə(r)|
Forms: 3–4 onure(n, honure(n, onoure(n, 3–6 honoure, honore, (honire), 4–5 oner, 5 honnoure, honer, (pa. tense honret), 5–6 honowre, 4– honour, 6– honor. See also anoure, an early by-form.
[a. OF. (h)onorer, -urer, -ourer, etc. (mod. F. honorer) = Pr. honorar, (h)onrar, Sp. honrar, It. onorare:—L. honōrāre, f. honōr-em, honour.]
†1. trans. To do honour to, pay worthy respect to (by some outward action); to worship, perform one's devotions to; to do obeisance or homage to; to celebrate. Obs. (or merged in 2 or 3.)
c1290Beket 2423 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 176 For-to honouri þis holi man þere cam folk i-novȝ. a1300Cursor M. 2709 Bot an allan he honired o þaa. c1300St. Margarete 82 Such a fals god to onoure. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxiv. 26 The man bowide hym silf and onouryde [1388 worschipide; Vulg. adoravit] the Lord. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 105 To þe kirke gan ich go god to honourie. c1400Destr. Troy 3001 Þere honestly sho offert, honourt hir goddes. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 201 They do honour the Sonne, Mone, and Sterres. 1593Shakes. Ven. & Ad. Ded., Till I haue honoured you with some grauer labour. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 458 Heere also they beginne to honor the Crosse. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 544 They..honour with full Bowls their friendly Guest.
b. To address with ‘your honour’. nonce-use.
1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 25 To convince your Honour of the Truth (for I honour'd him much) here's the Letter.
2. To hold in honour, respect highly; to reverence, worship; to regard or treat with honour or respect.
a1300Cursor M. 14336 (Cott.) Honurd be þou fader, euer and oft, Wit angels þine þar vp oloft. c1300Ibid. 25230 (Cott. Galba) Þat we tak neuer þi name in vayn..bot honore it als es worthy. 1382Wyclif Exod. xx. 12 Honour thi fader and thi moder. c1440York Myst. xx. 147 To honnoure god ouere all thing. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 139 Only for theyr vertue they [priests] schold be honowryd. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Matrimony, Wilt thou loue her, coumforte her, honor, and kepe her in sickenesse and in health? 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 13 Honor gray heares. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. x. 43 To honour those another honours, is to Honour him. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 4. 26 There is no Man whom I so highly honour as the Merchant. 1743J. Morris Serm. vii. 205 We should love and honor our parents. a1873Lytton Pausanias 35 Yes, I honour Sparta, but I love Athens.
3. To confer honour or dignity upon; to do honour or credit to; to grace.
a1340Hampole Psalter xxiv. 2 Þai sall be honurd with aungels. 1382Wyclif Esther vi. 9 Thus shal ben honoured, whom euere the king wile honoure. c1400Destr. Troy 12944 Þan honered hym þat od kyng with ordur of knight. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 214 Our feast shall be much honored in your marriage. 1602― Ham. i. iv. 16 It is a Custome More honour'd in the breach, then the obseruance. 1677Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 36, I beg to know if your Lordship intends to honour my poore house with being heere. 1730Pulteney Let. to Swift 9 Feb. S.'s Lett. 1766 II. 121 None gave me greater pleasure, than the kind letter you honoured me with. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 413 Such persons..as he honours with the title of Excellency. 1838Thirlwall Greece xliii. V. 291 Charidemus..had been honoured with a crown, and other marks of popular favour. 1859Max Müller Chips (1885) III. iv. 76 A nation honours herself by honouring her sons.
†b. To decorate, adorn, ornament, embellish. [Cf. ] Obs.
1528in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 486 The new churche..which I have honored att myne owne propre costes and charge. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 83 The continuance of this Daphnæan grove, honored with Buildings and spectacles.
4. Comm. To accept or pay (a bill of exchange, etc.) when due. Also fig.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Honour a Bill of Exchange (among Bankers), to pay it in due time. 1709Steele Tatler No. 57 ⁋2 They jest by the Pound, and make Answers as they honour Bills. 1779Franklin Lett. Wks. 1889 VI. 444, I shall pay it all in honoring their drafts and supporting their credit. 1809R. Langford Introd. Trade 19 The utmost punctuality should be observed in honouring Bills. 1838D. Jerrold Men of Character I. ix. 109 ‘With great pleasure’—and Saffron honoured a challenge to wine. 1859Thackeray Virgin. xxi, Nature has written a letter of credit upon some men's faces, which is honoured almost wherever presented. |