From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhonourhon‧our1 British English, honor American English /ˈɒnə $ ˈɑːnər/ ●●○ W3 noun 1 something that makes you proud [singular]PROUD something that makes you feel very proud Over 100 players competed for the honour of representing the county in the National Finals.it is an honour to do something It is an honor to have you here, sir.2 respect [uncountable]ADMIRE the respect that you, your family, your country etc receive from other people, which makes you feel proudhonour of He was prepared even to die in order to defend the honour of his family.national/family/personal etc honour For the French team, winning tomorrow’s game is a matter of national honour.3 → in honour of somebody/something4 given to somebody [countable]GIVE something such as a special title or medal given to someone to show how much people respect them for what they have achieved Reverend Peters was nominated for the honour by colleagues at Walworth Methodist Church.highest honour (=most important honour) The medal is the highest honour the association can bestow (=give).5 moral principles [uncountable]GOOD/MORAL strong moral beliefs and standards of behaviour that make people respect and trust you My father was a man of honour and great integrity. Her actions were always guided by a deep sense of honour (=strong desire to do what is morally right).matter/point/question of honour (=something that you feel you must do because of your moral principles) It had become a point of honour not to tell him about Lori.6 at university/school a) with honours British EnglishSEC if you pass a university degree with honours, you pass it at a level that is higher than the most basic level b) with honors American English if you finish high school or college with honors, you get one of the highest grades c) First Class/Second Class Honours British EnglishSEC the highest or second highest level of degree at a British university 7 → Your/His/Her Honour8 → place of honour9 → with full military honours10 → do the honours11 → your word of honour12 → be an honour to somebody/something13 → be/feel honour bound to do something14 → on your honour15 → the honours are even16 sex [uncountable] old useSEX/HAVE SEX WITH if a woman loses her honour, she has sex with a man she is not married to → guest of honour at guest1(1), maid of honourCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: something that makes you feel very proudadjectivesa great honourIt was a great honour to meet my hero in person.a rare honour (=a very special honour that is not given to many people)Being asked to paint a portrait for the queen is a rare honour for any artist.a dubious honour (=something that you are not sure that you should be proud of)The city has the dubious honor of being the smoggiest city in the world.a signal honour formal (=a great honour)He received the signal honour of becoming an Honorary Fellow of the college.verbshave the honour formalAs a young man, he had the honour of meeting Winston Churchill.do somebody the honour formal (=used when saying that you feel proud that someone has decided to do something)Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife? COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: the respect that you, your family, your country etc receive from other people, which makes you feel proudverbsbring honour to somebody/something (=make people respect someone or something)The bravery of these men has brought honour to their regiment.defend somebody's/something's honour (=do something to protect it when it is being attacked)To defend his honour and his business interests, he was prepared to go to court.save the honour of somebody/something (=stop it being lost)Her father fought with him to save her honour.uphold the honour of somebody/something (=defend it)She felt duty bound to uphold the honour of her country.restore the honour of somebody/something (=make it return to its former state)He would be forced to restore the honour of his family name.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + honour national honourFor him this is a matter of both personal and national honour.family honourRefusal of a marriage offer is seen as an attack on the family honour.phrasessomebody's/something's honour is at stake (=someone may lose their honour)French people believed that the country's honour was at stake over the incident. COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 5: strong moral beliefs and standards of behaviour that make people respect and trust youphrasesa man of honourI know Tom to be a man of honour and integrity.a matter/point/question of honour (=something you feel you must do because of your moral beliefs)To my mum, paying bills on time is a point of honour.a code of honour (=a set of moral rules, laws, or principles that people follow)We abide by a strict military code of honor.a sense of honourIs he marrying her out of some misplaced sense of honour?somebody's word of honour (=a promise based on strong moral beliefs)I give you my word of honour that you will not be harmed.be/feel honour bound to do something (=feel that you should do something, because it is morally right or your duty to do it)My father felt honour bound to help his sister.
Examples from the Corpus
honour• Des Collins, of the Royal Ontario Museum, doubts that it deserves quite such an honour.• This was not merely through the intrinsic loss but also because family status and honour were intimately linked to possession of land.• It was named in honour of our departed hero.• In 472 this feast succeeded to the torchlight procession in honour of Persephone, and that of the Lupercalia.• Guest of honour was Brigadier Garton who came up for the evening from his base at Catterick Garrison.• But instead of honour the family found only grief.• John Ridd's sense of honour is practical as well as idealistic and his motives are relevant outside their historical context.• And what life may be worth when ... the honour is gone ... I can offer no opinion.the honour of• He was fighting for a young girl's honour, and the honour of the police-force.• So I allowed him the honour of endorsing my change of name.• Again, the grant consolidated existing ducal interests, rounding out Gloucester's influence in the honour of Pickering further east.• But surely she owed her beloved that honour at least, the honour of single combat, which is a dragon's privilege.• The Führer has given to me the honour of organizing the conference and, of course, responsibility for his safety.• Long-range marksmanship was a feature of the day and to Martin Poxon went the honour of an albatross-eagle.• The honour was historically linked with the honour of Pontefract and together they formed a single trans-Pennine power bloc.national/family/personal etc honour• Some one had backed out of a marriage and family honour had been damaged.• In a traditional adventure story the pursuit of personal honour is drawn to an absolute conclusion.• At the heart of these have been the institutions of church and family and a code of behaviour based on personal honour.• Only a civil suit, at the very least, could wipe away the stain on family honour.• How Lord Mountbatten would have relished adding a saint to the other family honours he proudly displayed.• The family honour and all that nonsense.• Something like their national honour was at stake. highest honour• It came to occupy the seat of highest honour in their gospel.• Council leaders want to bestow the highest honour they can in recognition of Clough's achievements with Nottingham Forest.• Avice Cam deserved the highest honour that could be given for service to others.man of honour• Said's lawyer claimed successfully that this constituted a serious libel against his client as a man of honour.• If he makes statements from the Dispatch Box, he should be a man of honour and honour his promises.• Tom Clarke is a man of honour and integrity.• That was a trifle unexpected, but Rossmayne was a man of honour and good sense.• Lord Wyatt - a man of honour!• Among those pulling the triggers were the rising men of honour, Toto Riina and Provenzano.honourhonour2 British English, honor American English ●●○ verb [transitive] 1 → be/feel honoured (to do something)2 formalCELEBRATE to show publicly that someone is respected and admired, especially by praising them or giving them a special titlehonour somebody with something He was honored with an award for excellence in teaching.honour somebody for something Two firefighters have been honoured for their courage.3 → honour a promise/contract/agreement etc4 ADMIREto treat someone with special respect In a marriage, you need to honour one another. I was treated like an honored guest.5 → honour a cheque6 → somebody has decided to honour us with their presence→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
honour• Going down now to a place where his certainties would finally be honoured.• Professor's research honoured at poly A Guisborough professor's research work has been honoured with a new post at Teesside Polytechnic.• He says because my father died early in 1937 he's never been honoured for his work.• Earlier this year Cardinal Glemp repudiated this agreement but he has now been prevailed upon to honour it.• Pay scales either do not exist or are honoured mainly in the breach.• It seems a strange way to honour such an amazing phenomenon.• We hope that the factions will honour their commitment to a ceasefire in Mogadishu.• As a result, theories of the type proposed by Althusser and Poulantzas can not honour their own claims to completeness.From Longman Business Dictionaryhonourhon‧our1 /ˈɒnəˈɑːnər/ British English, honor American English verb [transitive]COMMERCE1honour a cheque/ticket/voucher etc if a bank, store etc honours a cheque, ticket etc, it allows it to be usedAny cheque you write up to £50 will be honoured.Carriers must honor tickets issued by airlines that go bankrupt.2honour a contract/agreement/promise etc to do what you have agreed or promised to doThis company always honours its contracts.3honour your debts/commitments/obligations etc to pay money that you oweBurundi was unable to honor its foreign debt commitments.→ See Verb tablehonourhonour2 British English, honor American English noun1[uncountable] the respect that people have for a person, organization etcThe incident damaged the company’s honour and credibility.2honours written abbreviation Hons or, hons [plural] British English a level of university degree that is higher than the most basic levelYou will need a good 2.1 honours degree.He passed his degreewith honours.3Your Honour British English used when speaking to a judgeI apologize, Your Honour. 