How words of praise, blame and respect changed their meaning.
prestige (n.)
Collection
How We Judge
Prestige is the standing someone has in other people’s eyes. When English borrowed the word from French in the seventeenth century, it meant a trick or illusion. Its Latin ancestry belongs to conjuring and deception. 12
In the nineteenth century the word began to describe the impressive appearance of someone’s importance or ability. It could still suggest a flattering illusion, but it also came to mean the reputation itself. Admiration became part of the word’s ordinary meaning. 1
Prestigious had entered English separately, from a related Latin word meaning deceitful or full of tricks. It kept that sense for centuries before acquiring its familiar meaning of highly regarded around the beginning of the twentieth century. Both words had moved from deception to esteem.2
The discovery brought considerable prestige to the university.