dedication

English

Etymology

Originated 1350–1400 from Middle English dedicacioun, from Old French dedicacion (“consecration of a church or chapel”), from Latin dēdicātiō, equivalent to dēdicātus+-iōn.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌdɛdɪˈkeɪʃən/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

dedication (countable and uncountable, plural dedications)

2. (uncountable) The act of dedicating or the state of being dedicated.

   Synonym: dedicatedness

   Hyponyms: diligence, devotion

   work with dedication

   Her dedication is admirable.

4. (countable) A note addressed to a patron or friend, prefixed to a work of art as a token of respect, esteem, or affection.

   Her dedication for the book was only a cryptic "Once again, for T".

6. (countable) The event, or the ceremony celebrating it, marking an official completion, opening, or beginning.

   Hyponyms: baby dedication, consecration (e.g. for a church building)

   The building's dedication is scheduled for next week.

8. (law) The deliberate or negligent surrender of all rights to property.

   the dedication of this right-of-way

Derived terms

• baby dedication

Translations

the act of dedicating or the state of being dedicated

• Armenian: նվիրում (hy) (nvirum)
• Dutch: toewijding (nl)
• German: Einsetzen n, Einsatz (de) m, Hingeben n, Hingabe (de) f, Engagement (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐγκαίνια f (enkaínia)

• Italian: dedizione (it) f
• Maori: ngākau titikaha
• Swedish: hängivenhet (sv) c

note prefixed to a work of art

• Arabic: إِهْدَاء m (ʔihdāʔ)
• Bulgarian: посвещение n (posveštenie)
• Catalan: dedicatòria (ca) f
• Czech: věnování n
• Dutch: toewijding (nl), dedicatie (nl)
• Esperanto: dediĉo
• French: dédicace (fr) f
• Georgian: მიძღვნა (miʒɣvna)
• German: Widmung (de) f, Zueignung (de) f
• Greek: αφιέρωση (el) f (afiérosi)
• Hebrew: הקדשה f (hakdashá)
• Indonesian: bakti (id), dedikasi (id)
• Irish: tíolacadh m
• Italian: dedicazione f
• Malay: dedikasi
• Navajo: baa deetʼáanii
• Polish: dedykacja (pl) f, poświęcenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: dedicatória
• Romanian: dedicație (ro) f
• Russian: посвяще́ние (ru) n (posvjaščénije)
• Spanish: dedicación (es) f, dedicatoria f
• Swedish: tillägnan (sv) c, hälsning (sv) c
• Tagalog: patungkol

a ceremony marking an official completion or opening

• German: Einweihung (de) f, Weihe (de) f, Konsekration f
• Swedish: invigning (sv) c

References

• “dedication”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “dedication”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "dedication" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.
• "dedication" in the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, Merriam-Webster, 1996.

Anagrams

• conidiated, eddication