dedication
noun
Did you know?
This one goes out to the word nerds we love. A simple word to occupy your time, but one dedicated to serving English users’ needs since the 14th century. Now that’s dedication! Dedication was first used for the solemn act of dedicating something, such as a calendar day or a church, to a deity or to a sacred use. The word hasn’t lost its religion in this respect; this sense is still very much in use today. But just as the verb dedicate (“to devote to the worship of a divine being”) has gained additional secular meanings over the centuries, so has dedication. By the 17th century it was being used for the act of devoting time and energy to a particular purpose (as when a band reveals its dedication to music by constantly rehearsing) as well as to a name or message prefixed to a literary, musical, or artistic production in tribute to a person, cause, or really any part of life’s rich pageant. Nowadays, dedication commonly indicates the quality of being loyal or devoted to a cause, ideal, or purpose.
Cite this Entry
“Dedication.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dedication. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.
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