Eulogy - encomium - panegyric - paean
The words 'eulogy, 'encomium', 'panegyric', and 'paean' are all used to mean 'a speech or other (formal) expression of praise'. All came into English, through Latin, from Greek.
- Of these words by far the most common is 'eulogy' (pronounced 'YOU-lodge-y', IPA: /ˈjuː lə (or ɒ) dʒ ɪ/), which means 'a formal speech or piece of writing in praise of someone or something, especially of someone who has recently died'. In many funeral services, for example, there is a eulogy of the person who has died. The associated verb is 'to eulogise' (or 'eulogize'), and a person who delivers or writes a eulogy is a eulogist. There is also an adjective 'eulogistic' or 'eulogistical'. All these words come from the Greek εὖλογιζείν (eulogizein), 'to speak well of or praise', which in turn is a compound of the adverb εὖ- (eu), 'well', and λέγειν (legein), 'to say, or speak'. (Do not confuse the words 'eulogy' and 'elegy'.)
- A panegyric - pronounced, with the stress on the third syllable, pa-ni-DJI-rik, IPA: /ˌpæn ə ˈdʒɪ rɪk/ - is a formal, public commendation or eulogy. It comes from the Greek πανηγυρίζείν (panegurizein), a verb formed from the noun πανήγυρις‚ (paneguris), 'an assembly', and which had as one of its meanings 'to make a set speech in a public assembly or to deliver a eulogy'.
- The word 'paean' - pronounced PEE-en, IPA: /ˈpiː ən/ - is used in a number of ways. For students of the classical world a paean is a hymn sung in ancient Greece to one of the gods, usually Apollo, either to invoke his help or in thanksgiving for help received. In other contexts a paean is a song of praise or, more generally, enthusiastic praise. The phrase 'a paean of praise' means 'a chorus of enthusiastic praise' - as in 'His first novel met with a paean of praise from the critics'. The English word 'paean' is a transliteration of the Greek word παιάν (paian). Παιάν was originally a title of the god Apollo, the physician of the gods, and meant physician, healer, saviour or deliverer. It was then used to refer to a choral song addressed to Apollo or Artemis, either in thanksgiving for deliverance from misfortune or in triumph after a victory in battle, or, more generally, any solemn song or chant.
Another verb which means 'to praise' is 'to laud', as in the expression 'to laud someone to the skies', meaning 'to praise someone highly, to heap extravagant praise on him or her'. The verb 'to laud' comes not from Greek, but from the Latin verb laudare, 'to praise'. There is also the noun 'laud' (from the Latin noun laus (genitive laudis, 'praise'), which is rarely used nowadays, though it does appear in the first line of the Palm Sunday hymn 'All glory, laud, and honour/ To Thee, Redeemer King' (Hymns Ancient and Modern, nos. 98 & 597) and, in the form 'Lauds', is the name of the traditional morning prayer of the Western Christian Church and of the first of the seven canonical hours. The adjectives 'laudatory', meaning 'expressing praise', and 'laudable', meaning 'praiseworthy or deserving of praise', are, however, still commonly used.
