prestige n : a high standing achieved through success or influence or wealth etc.; "he wanted to achieve power and prestige" [syn: prestigiousness]

see Prestige

English

Pronunciation

• /prɛstiʒ/

Noun

1. Delusion; illusion; trick.
   • Bp. Warburton:

     The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture.

2. The quality of how good the reputation of something or someone is, how favourably something or someone is regarded

   Oxford has a university of very high prestige.

Derived terms

• prestigious

Translations

• Czech: prestiž
• Dutch: aanzien , prestige
• Finnish: maine, kuuluisuus
• French: prestige
• German: Prestige
• Spanish: prestigio

Prestige is a word commonly used to describe reputation or esteem, though it has three somewhat related meanings that, to some degree, may be contradictory. Which meaning applies depends on the historical context and the person using the word.

Originally, prestige referred to pomposity, which was taken as a sign of poor taste. In this regard, the word had strictly negative connotations. Indeed, the root of the word "prestige" comes from the Latin præstigum, meaning a delusion or a trick. In some Romance languages "prestige" retains this original meaning.

Prestige has also come to be known as the finishing act in a magician's trick, a finale of sorts, where, for example, the object of the magician's trick is returned from disappearance or a woman reappears unharmed from a box of swords. A magician's trick is divided into 3 parts: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. The pledge is where he dares to dramatize his act; the turn, where he makes the item disappear; and finally the prestige, where the disappeared item reappears.

See also

• Prestige dialect

accomplishment, admiration, adoration, apotheosis, appreciation, approbation, approval, ascendancy, authority, awe, breathless adoration, cachet, celebrity, charisma, charm, clout, consequence, consideration, control, courtesy, credit, deanship, deference, deification, dignity, distinction, dominance, domination, duty, effect, eminence, enchantment, esteem, estimation, exaggerated respect, excellence, face, fame, favor, force, glamor, glory, good feeling, great respect, greatness, hero worship, high place, high regard, hold, homage, honor, idolatry, idolization, illustriousness, importance, incidental power, incomparability, influence, influentiality, influentialness, inimitability, insinuation, kudos, lead, leadership, leverage, magnetism, majority, mastery, memorability, moment, notability, noteworthiness, one-upmanship, personality, persuasion, position, potency, power, precedence, predominance, predomination, preeminence, preponderance, prepotence, prepotency, prerogative, pressure, primacy, priority, privilege, prominence, purchase, rank, regard, reign, remarkableness, renown, reputation, repute, respect, reverence, reverential regard, right-of-way, rule, salience, say, seniority, significance, skill, standing, stardom, state, station, stature, status, suasion, subtle influence, success, suggestion, superiority, supremacy, sway, transcendence, transcendency, upper hand, veneration, virtuosity, weight, weightiness, whip hand, worship