extol

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin extollō (“elevate, raise high”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈstəʊl/, /ɪkˈstɒl/

  • Audio (Southern England); /ɪkˈstɒl/:

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈstoʊl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl, -ɒl

Verb

extol (third-person singular simple present extols, present participle extolling, simple past and past participle extolled)

1. To praise; to make high.

   Synonyms: belaud, flatter

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 52:13:

     Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

   • a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “(please specify the chapter or poem)”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd and M[illicent] T[odd] Bingham, editors, Bolts of Melody, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, published 1945, page 173:

     Extol thee—could I—then I will / By saying nothing new, / But just the tritest truth / That thou art heavenly.

   • 2022 February 23, Barry Doe, “Liverpool & Manchester Atlas is excellent value”, in RAIL, number 951, page 60:

     In the meantime, I have an opportunity of extolling the virtues of his Liverpool & Manchester Railway Atlas, which appeared last year and has already had its second print-run.

Derived terms

• extollation
• extoller
• extolment

Translations

to praise; to make high

• Bulgarian: възхвалявам (bg) (vǎzhvaljavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頌揚／颂扬 (zh) (sòngyáng)

• Czech: vychvalovat impf, opěvovat impf, velebit impf
• Dutch: prijzen (nl), ophemelen (nl), verheffen (nl)
• Finnish: ylistää (fi)
• French: louer (fr), faire l'éloge de
• German: preisen (de)
• Irish: adhmhol, ardaigh
• Italian: lodare (it)
• Japanese: 褒めそやす (homesoyasu)
• Latin: extollō
• Lithuanian: šlovinti
• Maori: whakarangaranga, whakahirahira
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prise

• Polish: wychwalać (pl) impf
• Romanian: lăuda (ro), elogia (ro)
• Russian: восхваля́ть (ru) impf (vosxvaljátʹ), восхвали́ть (ru) pf (vosxvalítʹ), превозноси́ть (ru) impf (prevoznosítʹ), превознести́ (ru) pf (prevoznestí)
• Sanskrit: स्तौति (sa) (stauti)
• Spanish: alabar (es), elogiar (es), loar (es), enaltecer (es), ensalzar (es), entronizar (es)
• Swedish: höja till skyarna, lovprisa, prisa (sv)
• Turkish: yüceltmek (tr) (literally “exalt”)
• Zulu: -bonga, -dumisa

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “extol”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.