honorific - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• honorifick (obsolete, rare)
• honourific (non‐standard)

From honor +‎ -ific.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɒnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɑːnəˈɹɪfɪk/
• Hyphenation: hon‧or‧if‧ic
• Rhymes: -ɪfɪk

honorific (plural honorifics)

1. A person's title, such as "Mrs" or "Doctor".
2. A term of respect; respectful language.
4. (linguistics) A word or word form expressing the speaker's respect for the hearer or the referent.

   Coordinate term: humilific

honorific (comparative more honorific, superlative most honorific)

1. Showing or conferring honour and respect.

   • 1996, T. P. Wiseman, “The Minucii and Their Monument”, in Jerzy Linderski, editor, Imperium Sine Fine: T. Robert S. Broughton and the Roman Republic, Franz Steiner Verlag, →ISBN, page 59:

     According to Pliny, the custom of setting up honorific statues on columns was a comparably ancient one.

2. Based on or valuing honor

   • 2010, Orlando Patterson, “The mechanisms of cultural reproduction: explaining the puzzle of persistence”, in John R. Hall et al., editors, Handbook of Cultural Sociology, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 143:

     In the honorific cultural process, individuals (especially men) are extremely sensitive to real or perceived insults, and […]

• derogatory