admiration
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæd.məˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
rhymes: -eɪʃən
Forms: form: admirations
Etymology: From Middle English admiracion, borrowed from Middle French admiration, or directly from Latin admīrātiō, from prefix ad- (“to, towards”) + mīrō (“I look at”) + -ātiō. Compare the verb admire, and US dialectal terms miration and mirate.
Senses: examples: text: admiration of a war hero
text: They looked at the landscape in admiration.
text: For in this Instance, Life most exactly resembles the Stage, since it is often the same Person who represents the Villain and the Heroe; and he who engages your Admiration To-day, will probably attract your Contempt To-Morrow.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 1, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, pages 4-5:
text: A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.
ref: 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 6, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
text: Dr. Veraswami had a passionate admiration for the English, which a thousand snubs from Englishmen had not shaken.
ref: 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 3, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
text: [I]n the towns, the storekeepers hated them because they had no money to spend. There is no shorter path to a storekeeper’s contempt, and all his admirations are exactly opposite. The town men, little bankers, hated Okies because there was nothing to gain from them.
ref: 1939 April 14, John Steinbeck, chapter 19, in The Grapes of Wrath, New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 242:
text: Equally I can stand in a station like Lucerne in Switzerland, and watch with ill-concealed admiration the majestic entry of one of the latest Gotthard "Ae 6/6" electrics, packing 6,000 horsepower within its 60 ft. of length and 121 tons of weight, with its sleek dark green sides and handsome stainless steel bands and front wings.
ref: 1955 April, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 261:
glosses: A positive emotion including wonder and approbation; the regarding of another as being wonderful
examples: text: Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman?
Goneril. This admiration, sir, is much o’ th’ savour
Of other your new pranks.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
text: And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 17:6:
text: […] Admiration seized
All Heaven, what this might mean, and whither tend,
Wondering;
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 270-272:
glosses: Wondering or questioning (without any particular positive or negative attitude to the subject).
examples: text: Now, good Lafeu,
Bring in the admiration; that we with thee
May spend our wonder too, or take off thine
By wondering how thou took’st it.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act ALL'S WELL, scene ii], page 1:
glosses: Cause of admiration; something to excite wonder, or pleased surprise.
Synonyms: sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: approval
sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: appreciation
sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: adoration
sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: reverence
sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: wonder
sense: positive emotion including wonder and approbation
word: worship
Derived terms: admirational
mark of admiration
mutual admiration society
note of admiration
self-admiration