Etymograph

English

ovation

Ovation comes from Latin ovātiō ‘an ovation, jubilation’, and goes back to ovō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEovō1‘to applaud, celebrate with an ovation’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEovātiō2‘an ovation, jubilation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1631ovation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ovatio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ovation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Thomas Heywood, Vlisses [i.e., Ulysses] His Speech: “Proceede then in your bleſt Inauguration, / And celebrate…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEovōWiktionary, Latin ovatio‘to applaud, celebrate with an ovation’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEovātiōWiktionary, English ovation‘an ovation, jubilation’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1631ovationWiktionary, English ovation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1631, Thomas Heywood, Vlisses [i.e., Ulysses] His Speech: “Proceede then in your bleſt Inauguration, / And celebrate…”

Every English word from Latin ovō

Today it means

noun A victory ceremony of less importance than a triumph.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ovation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ovatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin ovō / ovation

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