accolade

Meanings

1. An expression of approval; praise.
2. A special acknowledgment; an award.
3. An embrace of greeting or salutation.
4. A salutation marking the conferring of knighthood, consisting of an embrace or a kiss, and a slight blow on the shoulders with the flat of a sword.
5. A brace used to join two or more staves.
6. A written presidential certificate recognizing service by military personnel or civilians serving the US armed forces who died or were wounded in action between 1917 and 1918, or who died in service between 1941 and 1947, or died of wounds received in Korea between June 27, 1950 and July 27, 1954.
7. An ornament composed of two ogee curves meeting in the middle, each concave toward its outer extremity and convex toward the point at which it meets the other.
8. Synonym of curly bracket.

1. To embrace or kiss in salutation.
2. To confer a knighthood on.
3. To confer praise or awards on.

Etymology

First use appears c. 1591 in the publications of Thomas Lodge, borrowed from French accolade, from Occitan acolada (“an embrace”), from acolar (“to embrace”), from Italian accollato, via Vulgar Latin *accollō (“to hug around the neck”), from Latin ad- + collum (“neck”) (English collar) + -āta.

Translations