eulogy

English

Etymology

From Middle English wloge (“commendation of the virtues of a deceased person”), from Latin eulogium, apparently from a confusion between ēlogium (whence English elogium, elogy) and eulogia (from Ancient Greek εいぷしろんὐλογία (eulogía, “praise”), whence English eulogia); equivalent to eu- +‎ logia ("good words"). Doublet of eulogium.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjuː.lə.d͡ʒi/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) enPR: yo͞oʹlə-jē, IPA^(key): /ˈju.lə.d͡ʒi/

Noun

eulogy (plural eulogies)

1. An oration to honor a deceased person, usually at a funeral.
2. Speaking highly of someone or something; the act of praising or commending someone or something.
   • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎^[1]:

     It was the prettiest and most luxurious little sitting-room I had ever seen; and I admired it with the warmest enthusiasm. The solemn servant was far too highly trained to betray the slightest satisfaction. He bowed with icy deference when my terms of eulogy were all exhausted, and silently opened the door for me to go out into the passage again.

   • 2013 August 14, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎^[2]:

     The Southampton striker, who also struck a post late on, was being serenaded by the Wembley crowd before the end and should probably brace himself for some Lambert-mania over the coming days but, amid the eulogies, it should not overlook the deficiencies that were evident in another stodgy England performance.

Usage notes

Because the words eulogy and elegy sound and look similar and both concern speeches or poems associated with someone's death and funeral, they are easily confused. A simple key to remembering the difference is that an elegy is chiefly about lamenting whereas a eulogy is chiefly about praising (and eu- = "good").

Synonyms

• panegyric
• elogy
• eulogium

Antonyms

• criticism
• dyslogy

Coordinate terms

• dirge, elegy, threnody – funeral song
• homily – funeral oration by clergy
• requiem – music played at a mass to honor a deceased person

Derived terms

• eulogise, eulogize
• eulogist
• eulogistic
• eulogomania

Related terms

• eulogia

Translations

an oration to honor a deceased person

• Arabic: تَأْبِين (ar) m (taʔbīn), أُمْدُوحَة f (ʔumdūḥa), رِثَاء m (riṯāʔ)
• Bulgarian: панегирик m (panegirik)
• Catalan: elogi m
• Cherokee: ᎠᏓᎸᏉᏗᏗᏳ (adalvquodidiyu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悼詞／悼词 (zh) (dàocí)

• Czech: velebení n, chvalozpěv (cs) m
• Danish: ligtale c
• Dutch: grafrede (nl) f
• Finnish: muistopuhe (fi)
• French: éloge (fr) m
• German: Lobrede (de) f, Lobesrede f, Trauerrede (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐπιτάφιος (epitáphios)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: הֶסְפֵּד m (hespéd)
• Hindi: स्तवन (hi) (stavan)
• Irish: aitheasc m, moladh mairbh m, óráid mholta f
• Italian: elogio (it) m
• Japanese: 賛辞さんじ (ja) (さんじ, sanji), ユーロジー (yūrojī)
• Korean: 찬사(讚辭さんじ) (ko) (chansa)
• Latin: laudatio f, (Medieval) eulogium n
• Macedonian: панеги́рик m (panegírik)
• Maori: poroaki, poroporoaki
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: laudacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: tributo (pt) m
• Romanian: elogiu (ro) n
• Russian: панеги́рик (ru) m (panegírik), восхвале́ние (ru) n (vosxvalénije), надгро́бная речь f (nadgróbnaja rečʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: eulògija (sh) f
• Spanish: elogio (es) m
• Swahili: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: lovtal
• Tagalog: elohiyo
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: надгробна промова f (nadhrobna promova)
• Vietnamese: điếu văn

high praise or recommendation

• Arabic: ثَنَاء m (ṯanāʔ), أُمْدُوحَة f (ʔumdūḥa), مَدِيح m (madīḥ), مَدْح m (madḥ)
• Bulgarian: възхвала (bg) f (vǎzhvala)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 表おもて揚あげ／表おもて扬 (zh) (biǎoyáng), 稱讚しょうさん／称しょう赞 (zh) (chēngzàn), 誇ほこ獎／夸奖 (zh) (kuājiǎng)

• Czech: vychvalování n, vynášení do nebe n
• Danish: lovtale c, lovord n
• Dutch: lofrede (nl) f
• Finnish: ylistys (fi)
• German: Lobrede (de) f
• Irish: amhra m, adhmholadh m, dréacht molta m, formholadh m, moladh m, teasmholadh m
• Italian: elogio (it) m, encomio (it) m
• Macedonian: славо́појка f (slavópojka), панеги́рик m (panegírik) (figuratively)
• Norwegian: hyldningstale m, lovtale m
• Portuguese: elogio (pt) m
• Romanian: elogiu (ro) n
• Serbo-Croatian: hvȁlospjēv (sh) m
• Spanish: encomio (es) m, elogio (es) m
• Swedish: lovtal, beröm (sv)
• Ukrainian: панегірик m (panehiryk), вихваляння n (vyxvaljannja)