accolade
accolade Lexical Profile
accolade Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An expression of high praise, or a special award, privilege, or honor granted in recognition of merit or achievement.
"The documentary received the highest accolade at the international film festival."
A ceremonial touch on the shoulders with the flat blade of a sword, or historically an embrace around the neck, used to confer knighthood.
"The monarch bestowed the accolade upon the kneeling scholar during the investiture ceremony."
A vertical brace or curved line used in musical notation to join two or more staves carrying simultaneous parts.
"In piano scores, the treble and bass staves are connected at the left margin by an accolade."
• verb
To bestow high praise, an award, or a formal honor upon someone.
"Critics accoladed the young violinist for her remarkably expressive debut performance."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from French accolade ('embrace around the neck'), from Old Occitan acolada, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *accollare ('to embrace around the neck'), derived from Latin ad- ('to') and collum ('neck'), referring to the ceremonial embrace originally given when bestowing knighthood.