Respects

How to spell respects

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce respects

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does respects mean?

1. verbHolds someone or something in high regard; treats with consideration (third-person singular).
2. nounParticular points or details of a matter under consideration.
3. nounPolite greetings or expressions of esteem, often formal.

Respects in a sentence

• verb

  The whole team respects her calm judgement under pressure.

• noun

  In many respects the new contract is better than the old one.

• noun

  The visitors lined up to pay their respects to the retiring headmaster.

• verb

  A good landlord respects the privacy of tenants.

• noun

  The two cars are similar in most respects except price.

• noun

  She sent her respects to her old colleagues through a mutual friend.

Where does respects come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin respicere, which literally meant 'to look back at' or 'to regard', built from the prefix re- ('back' or 'again') and specere ('to look'). The same specere root gives English a whole family of look-words such as 'inspect', 'spectator', and 'prospect'. The noun form passed into Middle English through Old French in the 1300s, first carrying the sense of 'regard' or 'consideration', and only later did it take on the modern meanings of esteem for a person and a particular aspect of a matter. The 'pay one's respects' usage, meaning a formal show of courtesy, developed from the older idea of literally turning to look toward someone with deference. Because the spelling keeps the silent original c-then-t cluster of spect, writers who go by sound alone can be tempted to drop a letter, but remembering the 'spect = look' root keeps it intact.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• spect (look)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb ending)