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Encomium

Rhetorical Devices
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A formal expression of praise for a person, thing, idea, or achievement. It celebrates admirable qualities in elevated language.

Detailed Definition
Encomium is a mode of praise that can honor an individual, a community, a virtue, a place, or even an ordinary object. In poetry, an encomium may celebrate a leader’s courage, a friend’s loyalty, a season’s abundance, or the sustaining power of language itself. The praise may be sincere, ceremonial, exaggerated, or ironic. By selecting and enlarging admirable traits, the poet shapes an ideal image and invites readers to share the speaker’s admiration.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shelley’s “To a Skylark” praises the bird as a joyful, almost heavenly singer; Wordsworth’s “To Autumn” honors autumn’s abundance and ripeness; “Praise the old woman who plants seeds in cracked ground” celebrates an ordinary figure’s courage; “O cedar, tower of patience, teacher of the snow” offers elevated praise to a tree
Additional Notes
An encomium is a formal work of praise that celebrates excellence in a person, object, community, or ideal. It may praise virtues such as courage, generosity, artistry, or wisdom, often in elevated language. Encomium can be sincere, ceremonial, or ironic depending on context. It is related to the ode, eulogy, and panegyric, though each has different traditional settings.
Other Meanings of “Encomium”
Also Known As
Eulogy Panegyric
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