We explain what prestige is, the origin of the word and various examples. Also, other meanings it can have.
What is prestige?
Prestige is understood, most of the time, as “good reputation”, that is, a positive public evaluation, resulting from a person's fame, esteem, or achievements a group of people, an organization and even a nation. These, therefore, are said to be prestigious.
The prestige always has to do with a specific aspect or a specific theme: a prestigious writer is one who is publicly celebrated and applauded, that is, one whose good reputation precedes him; Just as a country's team can have a lot of prestige within its specific sport, having won many competitions. Thus, what may be prestigious in one area may not be so in a different area.
The word prestige comes from Latin praestigiumtranslatable as “trick” or “deception”, and with this meaning it was initially used. For this reason, the word was often used as a synonym for “deception”, “trick” or “affection”, and from there it came to denote pride, prosopopoeia or arrogance, that is, appearing to have what one lacks. , or what one possesses is exaggerated.
Later, the term was associated with the good arts of astronomers, priests or alchemists, and from there it would move to the field of art and knowledge. Thus, its most common meaning today is positive, far from what it originally had, and equivalent to “reputation”, “respect” or “admiration”.
Some examples of sentences with this word are:
- To be invited to the conference, researchers must have sufficient prestige in their areas.
- Miguelito was accepted into a prestigious Uruguayan university.
- The immense prestige of the museum is due to his excellent curatorial work.
- The doctors at this hospital enjoy prestige
- What's the point of having a prestigious soccer team if we are not going to compete in the world championships?
See also: Pride
Other meanings of the word
According to the Royal Spanish Academy, there are two other uses of this word, which are precisely the most similar to its initial historical meaning, but which are very rare today:
- On the one hand, name the fascination produced by magic or some spell. For example: “The public seemed immune to the magician's prestige.”
- Similarly, name a deception, an illusion or a mirage with which someone is deceived. For example: “I was a victim of the seller's prestige and I signed the contract.”
This sense of the word prestige is closely related to the term prestigiator or conjurer, which is the person who does tricks and games with their hands or fingers, in the same way as magicians who do tricks with cards and other objects.
Continue with: Opinion
References
- “Prestige” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Etymology of Prestige” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “Prestige” on Wikipedia.
- “Prestige” in Wiktionary.
