Todays Word

 

prestigious

PRONUNCIATION:

(pre-STEEJ-uhs, -STIJ-) 

MEANING:

adjective: Honored, esteemed, or having high status.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French prestige (current meaning: prestige, earlier: illusion, deceit), from Latin praestigiosis (full of tricks), from praestringere (to dazzle, to blindfold), from pre- (before) + stringere (to tie or bind). Earliest documented use: 1534.

NOTES:

How times change! Earlier, to be prestigious was to be deceitful. Prestige was another word for deceit. If you were really good with tricks, you got a certain respect or admiration. Eventually the word turned its life around and arrived on the right side of the law. Despite similarities, the word prestidigitation has a different origin. It’s from French preste (nimble) + Latin digitus (finger).

USAGE:

“The announcement of the winner of the Nobel prize in literature usually prompts one of three reactions. The first is ‘Who?’; the second is ‘Why?’; the third -- by far the rarest -- is ‘Hurrah!’ This year, reactions were firmly in the first two camps. On Oct 5, Jon Fosse, a Norwegian, was awarded the world’s most prestigious writing prize.”
Prestigious, Lucrative, and Bonkers; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 14, 2023.

See more usage examples of prestigious in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.