laureate

/ˈlɔriɪt/

/ˈlɔriɪt/

Other forms: laureates

Winning a major award that marks your achievement in science, art, or literature makes you a laureate. If you develop a cure for cancer one day, you'll probably be a Nobel laureate!

The word laureate has a Latin root meaning "crowned with laurels," a reference to the dark, glossy-leaved plants that were historically draped on celebrated poets and heroes in ancient Greece. In 17th-century England, royal households had their very own poets, known as poet laureates — this honorific has since been extended, so that schools, states, and even entire countries have poet laureates, celebrated and honored for their work.

Definitions of laureate

1. noun

   someone honored for great achievements; figuratively someone crowned with a laurel wreath
   types:

   Nobel Laureate, Nobelist

   winner of a Nobel prize

   poet laureate

   the poet officially appointed to the royal household in Great Britain

   type of:

   honoree

   a recipient of honors in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments
2. adjective

   worthy of the greatest honor or distinction
   “"The nation's pediatrician laureate is preparing to lay down his black bag"- James Traub”

   synonyms:

   honorable, honourable

   worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect