DictionaryAI

proclaim

verb
Sayproh-KLAYMUS/pɹoʊˈkleɪm/UK/pɹəʊˈkleɪm/AUS/pɹəʉˈklæɪm/

Formsproclaims, proclaiming, proclaimed

2 meanings of proclaim

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To announce or declare something publicly and formally, so that everyone is made aware of it.

    The committee will proclaim the winners at tonight's ceremony.

    Protesters proclaimed their demands from the steps of the capitol.

    Similarannounce, declare, pronounce, broadcast, trumpet

    Note

    At root this is a shout sent outward: Latin prōclāmāre joins prō- "forth" to clāmāre "to cry out." Middle English spelled it proclamen, and the -claim spelling came later under the influence of claim, which grows from the same Latin verb. The verb readily takes a that-clause, as in Hugh Tredennick's 1954 translation of Plato's Apology, where Socrates goes whirling round "proclaiming that he is walking on air."

  2. 2
    verbdatedhistoricaltransitive
    To make a place or matter the subject of an official proclamation, bringing it within the scope of emergency powers.

    Faced with unrest, the Crown chose to proclaim the western districts and impose curfews.

    Were those baronies proclaimed at the time you were in them? –Some of them are; the barony of Duhallow is proclaimed.
    1824, "MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, Appointed to examine into the Nature and Extent of the…
    Note

    It belongs to the history of emergency rule in Ireland, where whole baronies could be proclaimed. The House of Lords minutes of 1824 note that "the barony of Duhallow is proclaimed." The object is the district or body placed under those powers, usually in the passive. When Major General Hugh MacNeill writes in 1940 that the Dáil was proclaimed, he means it was marked for suppression, not announced. That is the trap for readers who know only the everyday "declare" sense.

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with proclaim, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origin

From Middle English proclamen, from Old French proclamer, from Latin prōclāmāre, made of prō- ("forth") and clāmō ("to shout, cry out"). The spelling was altered by the influence of claim, which comes from the same Latin word clāmō.