Acclaim

How to spell acclaim

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce acclaim

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does acclaim mean?

1. verbTo praise something or someone enthusiastically and publicly.
2. nounEnthusiastic public approval or praise.

Acclaim in a sentence

• verb

  Critics acclaim her debut novel as a masterpiece.

• noun

  The film earned widespread acclaim at the festival.

• verb

  Voters were quick to acclaim the new transport policy.

• noun

  Her research won critical acclaim across the industry.

Where does acclaim come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin acclamare, which combined ad, meaning 'to' or 'toward', with clamare, 'to shout or cry out'. The literal sense was to shout at or call out toward someone, especially as a crowd roaring its approval. English took it up in the early 1600s, and at first it carried that loud, public flavour of crowds hailing a victor or a ruler. Over time the noise softened into the modern meaning of enthusiastic praise, often the considered approval of critics rather than a literal cheer. The same clamare root echoes through 'claim', 'clamour', 'exclaim', and 'proclaim', which is precisely the spelling trap: writers borrow the single c from 'claim' and forget that 'acclaim' doubles it, because the assimilated ad- prefix presses a second c against the root.

How the word is built

• ac- (assimilated form of ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward')
• claim (from Latin clamare, 'to shout or cry out')