Definition of "encomium" in English

noun

1. Warm praise, especially a formal expression of such praise; a tribute.

   • I rejoined our people, and expected a reprimand for having forced the enemy without orders; though I had my excuse ready. But here I was mistaken; for I met with nothing but encomiums.

2. (rhetoric) A general category of oratory.

3. (rhetoric) A method within rhetorical pedagogy.

4. The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series.

5. (literature) A genre of literature that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue.