homage

homage — noun

1. a feeling or public expression of great respect and admiration directed toward s

1.nounB2
Definition

a feeling or public expression of great respect and admiration directed toward someone you honour, such as a leader, a hero, or a god

Example

The crowd stood in silence as a homage to the victims of the earthquake.

a homage to [sb/sth]

Eve paid homage to her grandmother by learning the traditional recipes she used to make.

pay homage to [sb]

Common collocations
  • pay homage to
  • in homage to
  • humble homage
  • deep homage
  • gesture of homage
  • as a homage to
Synonyms
  • respect

    more general and everyday; 'homage' implies a more formal or ritualised public act

  • reverence

    deeper emotion, often spiritual, suggesting awe; 'homage' is more about public honour

  • tribute

    a concrete public act, speech, or gift that honours someone; 'tribute' is more specific about the form

  • veneration

    formal and intense, suggesting treating someone as sacred; less common in everyday use

Antonyms
  • disrespect

    lack of respect or courtesy

  • contempt

    a feeling that someone is worthless or beneath notice

Grammar Patterns

pay homage to [sb/sth]

in homage to [sb/sth]

Usage Note

Often used in the fixed phrases 'pay homage to' or 'in homage to'. The noun is almost always uncountable in this sense, so avoid saying 'a homage' outside the fixed expression 'as a homage to'.

Common Mistakes

I have great homage for my teacher.
I have great respect for my teacher.
'homage' is not used as a direct synonym for 'respect' as a simple feeling; it appears in set phrases like 'pay homage to' or 'in homage to'.

2. a creative work — such as a film, book, painting, or performance — that delibera

2.nounC1
Definition

a creative work — such as a film, book, painting, or performance — that deliberately borrows from or echoes the style of another artist or cultural movement as a way of honouring their influence

Example

The director's latest film is an homage to the black-and-white horror movies of the 1930s.

an homage to [sth]

Andrés painted a mural in his mentor's bold style as homage to her influence.

Common collocations
  • an homage to
  • a homage to
  • cinematic homage
  • musical homage
  • literary homage
  • a clear homage
  • a loving homage
  • a playful homage
Synonyms
  • tribute

    broader — can be any act of honouring, not limited to creative works

  • salute

    more formal and direct, often used metaphorically ('a salute to classic cinema')

  • acknowledgment

    less emotional, more factual; may not carry the same sense of admiration

Antonyms
  • parody

    a work that imitates for comic effect rather than admiration

  • satire

    a work that uses humour or exaggeration to criticise, not honour

Grammar Patterns

an homage to [sb/sth]

a homage to [sb/sth]

Usage Note

In this sense, 'homage' can be countable ('an homage' / 'a homage') or uncountable. The silent-h pronunciation of 'homage' (/'ɒmɪdʒ/ in British English and /ˈoʊmɪdʒ/ or /ˈɑmɪdʒ/ in American English) makes 'an homage' the natural choice in writing. The thing being honoured is typically an artist, a genre, or a cultural movement.

Common Mistakes

I baked a cake as an homage to my mother.
I baked my mother's favourite cake as a tribute to her.
For a personal act of honouring a family member, use 'tribute' instead; 'homage' in this sense is used for works in art, music, film, literature, or design that show stylistic influence.

3. in medieval Europe, a formal ritual where a person publicly swore loyalty and mi

3.nounC1
Definition

in medieval Europe, a formal ritual where a person publicly swore loyalty and military service to a lord, receiving protection and land-use rights in return

Example

The knight knelt before the king and performed homage for his new lands.

perform homage

During the homage ceremony, the vassal placed his hands inside the lord's hands.

homage ceremony

Common collocations
  • perform homage
  • do homage
  • swear homage
  • ceremony of homage
  • ritual of homage
  • receive homage
  • accept homage
Synonyms
  • fealty

    the oath of loyalty itself, closely tied to the homage ceremony

  • allegiance

    broader in scope, not limited to feudal contexts

  • submission

    focuses on the vassal's acceptance of the lord's authority, less positive in tone

Antonyms
  • rebellion

    active opposition to the lord's authority

  • defiance

    refusal to recognise the lord's power

Grammar Patterns

perform homage

do homage to [sb]

ceremony of homage

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 4: sense 3 describes the ceremony itself (the act of swearing loyalty), while sense 4 describes the ongoing legal relationship that resulted from that ceremony. The verbs used with sense 3 are typically 'do', 'perform', or 'swear', not 'pay'.

Common Mistakes

The knight paid homage to the king at the ceremony.
The knight performed homage to the king at the ceremony.
In the feudal sense, use 'perform homage' or 'do homage', not 'pay homage', which belongs to the modern respectful sense.

4. the mutual rights and duties that bind a lord and the person who has sworn loyal

4.nounC2
Definition

the mutual rights and duties that bind a lord and the person who has sworn loyalty to him, including the lord's promise of protection and the follower's obligation of military service

Example

The baron held the valley by right of homage and fealty to the king.

right of homage

The bond of homage required Sari to provide soldiers whenever the king called for war.

bond of homage

Common collocations
  • bond of homage
  • oath of homage
  • right of homage
  • by homage
  • terms of homage
  • break homage
Synonyms
  • vassalage

    the state or condition of being a vassal; the closest synonym

  • fealty

    the loyalty aspect of the relationship, but narrower in scope

  • liege

    describes the relationship from the lord's perspective ('liege lord')

Antonyms
  • independence

    freedom from a lord's authority

  • autonomy

    self-governance, the opposite of being bound to a lord

Grammar Patterns

bond of homage

by homage

right of homage

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 3: sense 3 describes the ceremony that creates the relationship, while this sense describes the relationship itself — the rights, duties, and ongoing obligations on both sides. This sense is the most technical and is rarely encountered outside historical writing about feudalism.

Common Mistakes

The king and his nobles had a bond of homage.
The king and his nobles were bound by homage and fealty.
The phrase 'bond of homage' names the relationship type; use 'bound by homage' to describe the state of being in that relationship.

Word family

  • homager
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Respect' is the most general and common word, used for any positive regard toward a person, custom, or institution — 'I have great respect for my teacher.' 'Reverence' goes deeper, suggesting a feeling of awe, often directed at religious figures or sacred traditions — 'the pilgrims' reverence for the ancient shrine.' 'Veneration' is even more formal and intense; it implies treating someone or something as holy or nearly holy, as in 'the veneration of ancestors in many East Asian cultures.' 'Tribute' is more outward and concrete: a speech, a statue, a donation, or any public act that honours someone — 'the concert was a tribute to the retired conductor.' 'Homage' overlaps with all of these but carries a distinctive sense of humbly acknowledging someone else's higher status or influence, often through a ritualised or public act — 'the young painter paid homage to her mentor by adopting his palette.'

respect ↗reverencetribute ↗veneration

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • pay homage
  • in homage
  • as a homage

Prepositions

  • to (pay homage to)
  • in (in homage to)

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word comes from Old French 'omage', which referred to the service a vassal owed to his feudal lord. Old French got it from Latin 'hominaticum', meaning 'the condition of being a man', from 'homo' (man). The idea was that in the feudal ceremony, a person declared himself a lord's 'man'. Over time, the meaning broadened from the specific feudal ritual to any act showing deep respect or admiration.