promise
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɹɒmɪs/
ipa: /ˈpɹɑmɪs/
rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɒmɪs
rhymes: (General American) -ɑmɪs
Forms: form: promises
form: promising
form: promised
form: promised
form: promyse
Etymology: From Middle English promis, promisse, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“I send forth, I say beforehand, I promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).
Senses: examples: text: "You think that I'll take anything."
"I know you will, sweet." …
"There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."
"Well, there is now," she said sweetly.
ref: 1936 Aug., Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", Cosmopolitan
text: Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
ref: 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
text: If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.
text: She promised to never return to this town again.
text: He promised me a big kiss if I would drive him to the airport.
text: I can't promise success, but I'll do the best I can.
glosses: To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.
examples: text: The clouds promise rain.
text: I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
glosses: To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
Synonyms: stipulate
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: a lick and a promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: a promise is a promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: a promise made is a promise kept
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: breach of promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: break a promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: break one's promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: break-promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: election promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: lick and a promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: on a promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: pinky promise
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: promise ring
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: promise the earth
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: promise the moon
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: promise the stars
sense: terms derived from noun and verb
word: promise the world
Related terms: promised
promisee
promising
promisor
promissory