What does laureate mean?
Word: Laureate
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Laureate means a person who has been given a very high honour for their work, such as a Nobel Prize.
How do you spell laureate?
Syllables: lau - re - ate
Tricky part: The first vowel sound is spelt au, and pupils who go by ear often write lor at the start.
Watch out for: lorreate, lawreate
Memory tip: Many laureates are authors, and the two words share the same au.
Laureate in a sentence
Example 1: A Nobel laureate opened the new science block at our college.
Example 2: Marie Curie was the first woman to become a Nobel laureate.
Example 3: The poet laureate wrote a new verse for the opening of the games.
Fun Fact
The picture behind the word comes from ancient Greece and Rome, where winners were crowned with a wreath of bay leaves, and the Latin name of that tree gave English this word.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
laur_at_
a) e, e
b) a, e
c) i, e
d) e, a
Show answer
a) e, e. Both gaps take the same vowel.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Our school hosted a Nobel tuaaeler who spoke about her work on clean water.
a) laureate
b) lubricate
c) literate
d) laundrette
Show answer
a) laureate. Eight letters with two a's and no n, b or i can only give one word.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word laureate as used in the sentence:
The young laureate thanked her teachers as the medal was placed round her neck.
a) candidate
b) beginner
c) apprentice
d) prizewinner
Show answer
d) prizewinner. Someone being given a medal for her work is a prizewinner.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. champian 2. laureate 3. medallist 4. scholar
a) a person or team that has won a competition
b) a person who studies a subject in depth
c) a person honoured with a great award
d) a person who has won a medal
Show answer
a) a person or team that has won a competition. Champion ends in ion, not ian.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What did Rabindranath Tagore do in 1913 that made him one?
a) He won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
b) He led a cricket team to England.
c) He became the first mayor of London.
d) He opened a new railway line in Bengal.
Show answer
a) He won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
2. What is the main task of the Poet Laureate in the UK?
a) to judge school writing contests
b) to teach poetry at a university
c) to run the national library
d) to write poems for special occasions
Show answer
d) to write poems for special occasions
