Homage Meaning
/ˈhɒmɪd͡ʒ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA demonstration of respect, as towards a person after his or her retirement or death.
nounAn artistic work imitating another in a flattering style.
Sentence Examples
Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue.
A discreet homage to the accident victims was carried out yesterday.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The musicians paid ____ to the legendary singer by covering her songs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist's latest painting is a beautiful ____ to the great masters of the Renaissance period.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English homage, from Old French homage, hommage, from Medieval Latin homināticum (“homage, the service of a vassal or 'man'”), from Latin homō (“a man, in Medieval Latin a vassal”) + -āticum (noun-forming suffix). The American pronunciations in /-ɑːʒ/ and with silent h are due to confusion with the nearly synonymous doublet hommage, which is indeed pronounced /oʊˈmɑːʒ/.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I ſought no homage from the Race that vvrite; / I kept, like Aſian Monarchs, from their ſight: […]"
— 1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 11, lines 214–215:
"When a man squeezes the hand of a pretty woman, […] she will consider such an impertinent freedom in the light of an insult, if she have any true delicacy, instead of being flattered by this unmeaning homage to beauty."
— 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:
"It’s appropriate that we pay homage to them and the sacrifices they made."
— 2006, “New York Times”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
"My rainy-day tour in April during the first lockdown was, in fact, a homage to Sir John Betjeman - the poet and railway campaigner whose statue can be found on the upper concourse of St Pancras station."
— 2021 January 13, Christian Wolmar, “Read all about London’s Cathedrals of Steam”, in RAIL, number 922, page 62:
"We'll do thee homage, and be rul'd by thee, / Love thee as our commander and our king."
— c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The musicians paid ____ to the legendary singer by covering her songs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The artist's latest painting is a beautiful ____ to the great masters of the Renaissance period.