The well-known phraseological unit “singing praises” is heard by many. Some understand its meaning, some do not. And the word itself is not entirely clear. So, the praise. What it is? Below we consider the history of the origin of this concept. Let us analyze the lexical meaning of the word, select the synonyms. And finally, let's see examples of the use of the word in speech.
The history of the word "praise"
The term "praise" is of Greek origin. It is directly related to the religion of the ancient Greeks. They were pagans and polytheists. They performed cults and rituals with special music and songs.
Initially, music and songs for the Greeks had a sacred meaning. So, and "praises" called a special ritual chant to the god Dionysus. He was a deity personifying wine and fertility. The ancient Greeks sang these songs to him, so that the earth gave birth to a rich harvest, the grapes grew well.
Dithyramb in honor of Dionysus is not just a dance song. This is a whole performance with dialogs and special developed actions. It was from such cults that dramaturgy arose in Ancient Greece. After the praises began to sing to other gods and goddesses. But what are these praises in the modern sense? Now there is no cult of Dionysus, and many deities have long sunk into oblivion.
The lexical meaning of the word "praise"
The basic and very first meaning of the term under investigation is contained in its history. In the dictionaries of D. N. Ushakov, S. I. Ozhegov, V. Dahl, praises are a solemn song to the god of wine Dionysus.
However, there is a second meaning of the word, figurative and, in a way, modern. All dictionaries explain that praises are praise to someone or something. It necessarily includes emotions of enthusiasm, inspiration and fanaticism.
There are few synonyms for this term, here are some of them:
- anthem;
- song;
- praise;
- panegyric;
- Oh yeah;
- eulogy.
Singing praises means expressing your praise, your delight to someone.
Examples of use
In order to more clearly imagine the use of the word in live speech, you should give examples of the context where you can use it:
- "In the Middle Ages, young poets wrote praises to their ladies."
- "Stop mumbling all your mother’s praises."
- "Before the meeting of the department and the singing of praises of our rector, I would solve several really important issues."
Thus, the word "praises" in modern Russian is most often used with the phraseology "sing praises" in the meaning of exaltation of someone and something. This is a very exaggerated praise, which in most cases is unpleasant.