prize

See also: příze

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English prise, from Old French prise (“a taking, capture, a seizure, a thing seized, a prize, booty, also hold, purchase”), from French prise, from pris, past participle of prendre (“to take, to capture”), from Latin prendere (“to take, seize”); see prehend. Compare prison, apprise, comprise, enterprise, purprise, reprisal, surprise, etc.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /pɹaɪz/
  • Audio (US)(file)
    • Rhymes: -aɪz
  • Homophones: pries, prise

Noun

prize (plural prizes)

  1. That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, Book 4, Canto 4, p. 54,
      […] wherefore he now begunne
      To challenge her anew, as his owne prize,
      Whom formerly he had in battell wonne,
  2. (military, nautical) Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; especially, property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel.
    • 1724, Charles Johnson, “Of Captain Avery, and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], OCLC 2276353, page 51:
      Having taken all the Treasure on Board their own Ships, and plundered their Prize of every Thing elſe they either wanted or liked, they let her go; ſhe not being able to continue her Voyage, returned back: […]
  3. An honour or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort.
    • 1676, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe, London: Henry Herringman, Act 5, p. 73,
      I fought and conquer’d, yet have lost the prize.
  4. That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery.
    • 1928, Weston Jarvis, Jottings from an Active Life, London: Heath Cranton, p. 256,
      Cecil Rhodes […] was never tired of impressing upon one that the fact of being an Englishman was “the greatest prize in the lottery of life,” and that it was that thought which always sustained him when he was troubled.
  5. Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in prospect.
  6. (obsolete) A contest for a reward; competition.
  7. A lever; a pry; also, the hold of a lever. Also spelled prise.
Usage notes

Do not confuse with price.

Derived terms
Terms derived from prize
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English prysen, borrowed from Old French priser (“to set a price or value on, esteem, value”), from pris (“price”), from Latin pretium (“price, value”), whence price; see also praise, a doublet. Compare appraise, apprize.

Verb

prize (third-person singular simple present prizes, present participle prizing, simple past and past participle prized)

  1. To consider highly valuable; to esteem.
    • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene 1,
      […] I
      Beyond all limit of what else i’ the world
      Do love, prize, honour you.
    • 1676, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe, London: Henry Herringman, Act V, p. 83,
      I pris’d your Person, but your Crown disdain.
    • 2013, J. M. Coetzee, The Childhood of Jesus, London: Harvill Secker, Chapter 20, p. 167,
      ‘ […] An old broken cup has no value. No one prizes it.’
      ‘I prize it. It’s my museum, not yours.’
  2. (obsolete) To set or estimate the value of; to appraise; to price; to rate.
  3. To move with a lever; to force up or open; to prise or pry.
  4. (obsolete) To compete in a prizefight.
Derived terms
Translations

Adjective

prize (not comparable)

  1. Having won a prize; award-winning.
    a prize vegetable
  2. first-rate; exceptional
    He was a prize fool.

Further reading
  • prize in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • prize in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.