honor 
termine questions concerning honor or honorable conduct 
asart'ectiug individuals or a community. Specifically (a) 
One of a class of courts which formerly existed in Europe 
for regulating and settling matters relating to the laws of 
honor, and for correcting encroachments in matters of 
coat-armor, precedency, etc. They were courts of chivalry. 
(It) 1 n several European armies, a court composed of officers 
authorized to inquire into and punish all breaches of the 
principles of honor on the part of officers. Debt Of hon- 
or. See dfbt. Honor bright ! a protestation of or appeal 
tu honor. [Colloq.] Honors are easy. See easy. Hon- 
ors of war, formal military manifestations of respect ; 
specifically, the privileges granted to a capitulating force 
at the discretion of a victorious commander. Permission 
to march out with all the honors of war is the right accorded 
to a surrendering garrison of marching out of their camp 
or intrenchments with all their arms, and with colors fly- 
ing, drums beating, etc. Last honor, usually last hon- 
ors, a ceremony of respect paid to the dead ; funeral rites ; 
obsequies. 
As soon as the prince Facilidas had paid the last honour* 
to his father, he set about composing those disorders 
which had so long distracted the kingdom by reason of 
the difference of religion. Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 401. 
Laws of honor, the laws or established rules of honorable 
conduct ; especially, the regulations concerning the oc- 
casions for fighting duels and the methods of conducting 
them in an honorable manner. Such laws were formerly 
generally recognized and rigidly enforced by public opin- 
ion. Maid Of honor, a lady in the service of a queen, 
whose duty it is to attend the queen when she appears in 
public. 
Poor soul ! I had a maid of honour once ; 
She wept her true eyes blind for such a one, 
A rogue of canzonets and serenades. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
On or upon my honor, words accompanying a declara- 
tion, and pledging one's nonor or reputation for the truth 
of it. The members of the British House of Lords, in their 
judicial capacity, give their verdict on their honor. 
Look, the good man weeps ! 
He's honest, on mine honour. 
Shalt., Hen. VIII., v. 1. 
York. Upon thine honour, is he prisoner? 
Buck. Upon mine honour, he is prisoner. 
SAai.,2Hen. VI., v. 1. 
Point Of honor, (a) A scruple arising from sense of duty 
or delicacy of feeling, which determines the action of a 
man on a particular occasion : as, he hesitated on a point 
of honor. (6) Under the code or laws of honor, the obliga- 
tion to demand or grant satisfaction for a wrong or an 
insult, especially by means of a duel. 
The point of honor has been deem'd of use 
To teach good manners and to curb abuse. . , . 
'Tis hard, indeed, if nothing will defend 
Mankind from quarrels but their fatal end. 
Cowper, Conversation, 1. 163. 
To do honor to. (a) To treat with special or marked 
respect; manif est approbation of ; confer honor upon : as, 
to do honor to a man or to his actions, (b) To gain respect 
for by honorable or laudable action ; do something that 
brings honor or credit to : as, to do honor to one's self, or 
to one's profession or country. To make one's honorst, 
to make obeisance ; do reverence. 
They paced once about, in their ring, every pair making 
their honours, as they came before the state. 
B. Jonson, Masque of Hymen. 
Caroline arose from her seat, made her curtsey awk- 
wardly enough, with the air of a boarding-school miss, her 
hands before her. My father let her make her honours, and 
go to the door. Richardson, Sir Charles Grandison, II. 190. 
Word Of honor, a verbal promise or engagement which 
cannot be violated without disgrace. =Syn. 1. Fame, Re- 
nown, etc. (see glory!, n.) ; repute, consideration, esteem, 
credit, respect, homage, civility, deference, high-minded- 
ness, nobleness. 2. Integrity, Probity, etc. See honesty. 
honor, honour (on'or), v. t. [Early mod. E. 
honor, honour; < ME. honouren, honuren, rarely 
hoiioren, honren, sometimes without the aspi- 
rate, onouren, < AF. honurer, OF. honurer, ho- 
norer, honourer, onorer, etc., F. honorer = Pr. 
honorar, lionrar, onrar = Sp. Pg. honrar = It. 
onorare, < L. honorare, honor, < honor, honos, 
honor, pay respect to, grace: see honor, .] 
1. To hold in honor; regard with honor ; treat 
with deference ; respect; revere; when said of 
the Supreme Being, to reverence ; adore ; wor- 
ship. 
That man that schal the wedde bifor god with a ryng, 
Loue thou him & honoure. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 38. 
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour 
the Father. John v. 23. 
Hee [Bacchus] taught them the vse of Wine, Oyle, and 
Sacrificing : in memorie whereof, Posteritie honered him 
for a god. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 452. 
2. To bestow honor upon ; do or bring honor 
to; distinguish honorably or respectfully; favor 
(with) as an honor: as, to honor one with a title. 
Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king de- 
lighteth to honour. Esther vi. 9. 
I may not evermore acknowledge thee, . . . 
Nor thou with public kindness honour me. 
Shak., Sonnets, xxxvi. 
A custom 
More honour'd in the breach than in the observance. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 4. 
To whom to nod, whom take into your coach, 
Whom honour with your hand. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, I. vi. 103. 
3. To perform some duty of respect or credit 
toward : as, to honor an invitation or an iiitro- 
2875 
duction; specifically, in coin., to accept and 
pay when due : as, to honor a bill of exchange. 
" With great pleasure " and Saffron honoured a chal- 
lenge to wine. D. Jerrold, Men of Character, I. 69. 
honorable, honourable (ou'or-a-bl), a. and n. 
[< ME. honourable, onorable, < OF. honorable, 
onorable, F. honorable = Sp. honorable = It. 
onorabi/e, < L. honorabilis (rare), that procures 
honor or esteem, < honorare, honor: see honor, 
i 1 .] I. a. 1. Worthy of being honored; entitled 
to deference or respect on account of character 
or rank; eminent; illustrious. 
Too the Courte of the Kyng till hee comme were, 
Too looke on Olympias the onorable Queene. 
Alisaunder of JUacedoine (E. E. T. S.X 1. 577. 
Many of them believed ; also of honourable women which 
were Greeks . . . not a few. Acts xvii. 12. 
2. Actuated by principles of honor or a scru- 
pulous regard to rectitude or reputation; act- 
ing justly or in good faith. 
Thou a wretch, whom, foH'wing her old plan, 
The world accounts an honorable man, 
Because forsooth thy courage has been tried, 
And stood the test perhaps on the wrong side. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 738. 
3. Conferring or suitable for honor or distinc- 
tion; creditable; reputable. 
Ill to the court in the morning : we must all to the wars, 
and thy place shall be honourable. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 4. 
Nought is more honourable to a knight, 
Ne better doth beseeme brave chevalry, 
Then to defend the feeble in their right. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. fl. 1. 
Honourable wounds from battle brought. Dryden. 
4. Consistent with or conformable to honor or 
reputation ; honest ; sincere ; marked by pro- 
bity or good faith : as, honorable intentions or 
motives ; an honorable character. 
If that thy bent of love be honourable, 
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow. 
Shak.,n. and J., ii. 2. 
All great & honourable actions are accompanied with 
great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and over- 
come with answerable courages. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 26. 
God send us an honourable Peace. 
Howell, Letters, I. v. 27. 
The dissensions between the Roman orders are on the 
whole honourable to both parties. It is possible to un- 
derstand both sides, to enter into the feelings of both 
sides. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 297. 
5. Held in honor ; worthy of respect; free from 
shame or disgrace ; respectable : as, honorable 
poverty. 
I acknowledge that Marriage is an honourable condition. 
Howdl, Letters, I. vi. 60. 
Seven happy years of health and competence, 
And mutual love and honourable toil. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
6. Performed or accompanied with marks of 
honor or with testimonials of esteem : as, an 
honorable burial. 
An honourable conduct let him have. 
Shak., K. John, i. 1. 
I kept my seat on the sopha, and when the person got 
up at the right hand of the Cashif, the Cashif mil il to me 
to take his place, and shew'd me great civility; which 
was more honourable than if I had placed myself lower at 
the table. Pocoeke, Description of the East, I. 57. 
7. Of respectable quality or amount; adequate 
to requirement ; sufficient: as, an honorable sal- 
ary. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Dined with Lord Cornebury, now made L. Chamberlaine 
to the Queene ; who kept a very honorable table. 
Evelyn, Diary, May 24, 1666. 
8. An epithet put before a person's name as a 
conventional title of respect or distinction, in 
Great Britain this title is bestowed upon the younger sons 
of earls and the children of viscounts and barons, and 
upon persons occupying official places of trust and honor ; 
also upon the House of Commons as a body, as formerly 
upon the East India Company. In the United States it is 
commonly given to persons who hold or have held any 
considerable office under the national or State govern- 
ment, particularly to members and ex-members of Con- 
gress and of State legislatures, to judges, justices, and 
some other judicial officers, as well as to certain executive 
officers. Abbreviated Hon. Honorable discharge. See 
discharge. Honorable ordinary, in her. See ordinary. 
Right Honorable, in Great Britain, a title given to all 
peers and peeresses of the United Kingdom, to the eldest 
sons and all the daughters of peers above the rank of vis- 
count, to all privy councilors, and to some civic function- 
aries, as the mayors of London and Dublin. 
The Jiight Honorable gentleman is indebted to his mem- 
ory for his jests and to his imagination for his facts. 
Sheridan, Speech in Reply to Mr. Dundas. 
= Syn. 1. Honorary, Honorable. See honorary. 2. Just, 
upright, conscientious, high-minded, magnanimous. See 
comparison under honesty. 
II. H. 1. An honored or distinguished person. 
Ector full onestly that onerable thanket : 
And yet the batell on bent was breme to behold ! 
Destruction uf Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6709. 
honorific 
2. One who bears the formal or official title of 
honorable. [Colloq.] 
honorableness, honourableness (on'or-a-bl- 
nes), n. 1. The state of being honorable; dig- 
nity; distinction; eminence: as, hoiiorableiietiy 
of rank. 
Honorablenesse is a noble ordering of weightie matters, 
with a lustie heart, and a liberall vsing of his wealth, to 
encrease of honour. Sir T. Wilson, Art of Ehetoric, p. 35. 
2. Honorable conduct, character, or quality; 
reputableness ; respectability. 
The wages of labour vary with the ease or hardship, the 
cleanliness or dirtiness, the honourableness or dishonour- 
ableness, of the employment. 
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, i. 10. 
The Fijians, believing in the honourableness of murder, 
are regarded by us with astonishment. 
H. Spencer, Study of Sociol., p. 260. 
honorably, honourably (on'or-a-bli), adv. [< 
ME. honourably; < honorable + -ly 2 .] In an 
honorable manner; in a manner conferring or 
consistent with honor. . 
When I am dead, speak honourably of me. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, iv. 4. 
honorancet, honourancet, *. [< ME. honoranee, 
honuraunce, < OF. honoranee, onorance, < hono- 
rer, honor: see honor, ^.] An honoring; the act 
of paying homage, respect, or worship. 
In ye honuraunce of ihesu crist of heuene, and of his der 
woryi moder seynt marie, and of ale halowene, and special- 
like of yt blisful corsant seynt Nicholaus, yis fraternite is 
bygunnen. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 97. 
As honour is in honourance, in him that honours rather 
than him that is honoured, so disgrace is in him that casts 
it, not in him that endures it. South, Works, VIII. ix. 
honorarium (on-o-ra'ri-um), n. ; pi. honoraria 
(-a). [< L. honorarium (sc. donum), a present 
made on being admitted to a post of honor, 
neut. of honorarius, honorary: see honorary.] 
A fee for services rendered, especially by a 
physician or other professional person, in Eng- 
land, when used of the fee of a barrister, it has reference 
to the fact that at common law barristers had no legal right 
to recover compensation for their services. Also honorary. 
Each of the directors must hold at least ten shares, and 
be elected by ballot of stockholders. While fixing the 
salaries of employes, they receive no honorarium them- 
selves. Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 930. 
honorary (ou'or-a-ri), a. and n. [= F. liono- 
raire = Sp. Pg. h'onorario = It. onorario, < L. 
lionorarius, of or relating to honor, conferring 
honor, < honor, honor: see honor.'] I. a. 1. 
Done or made in token of honor ; honoring. 
Beside their real tombs, many have found honora>-y and 
empty sepulchres. Sir T. Browne, Urn -burial, iii. 
I have near a hundred honorary letters from several 
parts of Europe. Swift, Bickerstaff Papers. 
2. Conferring honor, or intended merely to 
confer honor, without customary requirements 
or obligations: as, an honorary degree or title. 
3. Holding a title or place conferred as an 
honor. An honorary member of a society or an institu- 
tion may or may not take an active part in its proceed- 
ings or the promotion of its objects, but has no share in 
its management. An honorary officer, as distinguished 
from the regular officers of the same body, renders ser- 
vices without compensation, or without the full power or 
obligations of the office. 
To the justices in active service the Russian law ad- 
joins others called honorary, who are also elected, and 
in the same way, but who can sit only in civil cases, and 
then only when requested to do so by the parties to the 
suit, or as assistants to the acting magistrates. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 924. 
Honorary feud. See , feudz. Honorary service, in 
Eng. law, a service incident to grand serjeanty and com- 
monly annexed to some honor. = Syn. 1 and 2. Honor- 
ary, Honorable. Honorary refers to that which exists or 
is done for the sake of conferring honor : as, an honorary 
degree, honorary membership ; honorable, to that which 
is worthy of honor, confers honor, or is consistent with 
the sentiment of honor: as, an honorable man (in two 
senses) ; an honorable alliance ; an honorable motive. 
II. n. ; pi. honoraries (-riz). Same as hono- 
rarium. 
In some universities, the salary makes but a part . . . 
of the emoluments of the teacher, of which the greater 
part arises from honoraries or fees of his pupils. 
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, v. 1. 
honor-court (on'or-kort), n. In Eng. law, a 
court held within an honor or seigniory. 
honored, honoured (on'ord), a. In her., same 
as crowned. 
honorer, honourer (ou'pr-er), . [< honor, hon- 
our, + -!.] One who honors. 
Let us study dayly and diligently to shew our selues to 
be the true honourers and lovers of God. 
Homilies, Sermon against the Feare of Death, iii. 
I now have cancell'd all 
The thoughts of her, and offer thee myself, 
Myself thy perfect honourer. 
Shirley, Love in a Maze, iii. 3. 
honorific (on-o-rif 'ik), fl. and n. [= F. honori- 
liqiif = Sp. Pg. lionoriftco = It. onorifico, < L. 
