promise
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFromMiddle Englishpromis, promisse, borrowed fromOld Frenchpromesse, fromMedieval Latinprōmissa,Latinprōmissum(“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles ofprōmittō(“I send forth, I say beforehand, I promise”), frompro(“forth”) +mittere(“to send”); seemission. Compareadmit,commit,permit, etc. Displaced nativeġehātan(“to promise”) andġehāt(“a promise”).
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation)IPA(key):/ˈpɹɒmɪs/
- (General American)IPA(key):/ˈpɹɑmɪs/
Audio(US): (file) - Rhymes:(Received Pronunciation)-ɒmɪs,(General American)-ɑmɪs
- Hyphenation:prom‧ise
Noun
editpromise (countable anduncountable,pluralpromises)
- (countable) anoath oraffirmation; avow.
- When I make apromise, I always stick to it.
- He broke hispromise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.
- (countable,law) A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
- 1668 July 3rd,James Dalrymple, “Thomas Ruecontra Andrew Houſtoun” inThe Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683),pages 547–548
- He purſuedAndrew Houſtoun upon hispromiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.
- 1668 July 3rd,James Dalrymple, “Thomas Ruecontra Andrew Houſtoun” inThe Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683),pages 547–548
- (uncountable) Reason to expect improvement or success;potential.
- 1819 June 23 –1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym;Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, inThe Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.:[…] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […],→OCLC:
- My native country was full of youthfulpromise.
- 1963,Margery Allingham, chapter 1, inThe China Governess: A Mystery, London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:
- The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of apromise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
- She shows greatpromise as an actress.
- (countable,programming) Aplaceholderobject representing the eventual result of anasynchronous operation.
- 2023 August 25, “Observables compared to other techniques”, inAngular 17 documentation[1], Google:
- You can often use observables instead ofpromises to deliver values asynchronously.
- (countable,obsolete)bestowal orfulfillment of what is promised
- 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Acts1:4:
- He[…] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for thepromise of the Father.
Translations
editvow
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transaction
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
editpromise (third-person singular simple presentpromises,present participlepromising,simple past and past participlepromised)
- (ambitransitive) Tocommit to (some action or outcome), or toassure (a person) of such commitment; to make anoath orvow.
- 1936 Aug.,Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber",Cosmopolitan:
- "You think that I'll take anything."
"I know you will,sweet." [...]
"There wasn't going to be any of that. Youpromised there wouldn't be."
"Well, there is now," she said sweetly.
- "You think that I'll take anything."
- 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, inThe Economist, volume407, number8841, page70:
- Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more thanpromising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
- If youpromise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.
- Shepromised to never return to this town again.
- Hepromised me a big kiss if I would drive him to the airport.
- I can'tpromise success, but I'll do the best I can.
- 1936 Aug.,Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber",Cosmopolitan:
- (intransitive) To give grounds forexpectation, especially of something good.
- The cloudspromise rain.
- 1897 December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter I, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:
- I liked the man for his own sake, and even had hepromised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.
Usage notes
edit- This is acatenative verb that takes theto infinitive. SeeAppendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editto commit to something
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Derived terms
editterms derived from noun and verb
Further reading
edit- “promise”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “promise”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
- Promise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
editFrench
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Participle
editFurther reading
edit- “promise”, inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.
Anagrams
editItalian
editVerb
editpromise
- third-personsingular past historic ofpromettere
Anagrams
editRomanian
editPronunciation
editAdjective
editpromise
Verb
editpromise
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=promise&oldid=83982736"
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