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accolade

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An accolade is something given to a person in order to praise or recognize the person or his accomplishment. (noun)

An example of accolade would be a thumbs-up review of a play.

See accolade in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

an embrace formerly used in conferring knighthood
a touch on the shoulder with the flat side of a sword, now used in conferring knighthood
1. anything done or given as a sign of great respect, approval, appreciation, etc.
2. words of praise
Music brace (sense )

See accolade in American Heritage Dictionary 4

(ăkˈə-lādˌ, -lädˌ)

noun

a. An expression of approval; praise.
b. A special acknowledgment; an award.
A ceremonial embrace, as of greeting or salutation.
Ceremonial bestowal of knighthood.

transitive verb ac·co·lad·ed, ac·co·lad·ing, ac·co·lades

To praise or honor: “His works are invariably accoladed as definitive even as they sparkle and spark” (Malcolm S. Forbes).

Word History: People usually have to stick their necks out to earn accolades, and this is as it should be. In tracing accolade back to its Latin origins, we find that it was formed from the prefix ad-, “to, on,” and the noun collum, “neck,” which may bring the word collar to mind. From these elements came the Vulgar Latin word *accollāre, which was the source of French accolade, “an embrace.” An embrace was originally given to a knight when dubbing him, a fact that accounts for accolade having the technical sense “ceremonial bestowal of knighthood,” the sense in which the word is first recorded in English in 1623.

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