promote
Formspromotes, promoting, promoted
- 1To encourage people to support someone or something, adopt an action or attitude, or buy something, including through advertising and publicity.
Her agency was hired to promote the festival across three states.
Critics worried the campaign would promote unhealthy eating habits among teenagers.
- 2To advance someone to a higher rank or to a post carrying more importance, responsibility, or pay.
The board voted to promote the deputy director to chief executive.
Managers typically promote employees after a year of strong performance.
UsagePromote someone to a post: promoted to manager; often in the passive, as in she was promoted.
Similarelevate, advance, upgrade, raise
Oppositedemote
Note
Latin gave the word its picture: prōmovēre, "move forward, advance". A promotion is still a step up a ladder that someone else controls. The usual frame is promote someone to a post: promoted to office manager, promoted to chief executive, with the new rank coming after to. Its plain opposite is demote, the word for a step back down.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Promote derives from Latin prōmovēre, through its participle prōmōtus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin prōmovēre means “move forward, advance”. en.wiktionary.org
- 3To move a sports team up to a higher division or league.
Under the new rules, the league will promote three clubs each season: the top two automatically and a third through a playoff.
The squad was promoted after finishing second in the table.
UsageUsually be promoted: the club was promoted to a higher division. Going down is relegated.
Oppositerelegate
Note
Tiered league sports have their own ladder. A club that finishes high in its division moves into the one above at the end of the season. The reverse journey is relegation.
- 4To help something advance or grow, adding to its progress or development.
Low interest rates can promote investment and economic growth.
Keeping the wound clean helps promote healing after surgery.
Similarencourage, foster, boost, stimulate, further
Oppositehinder, inhibit, impede, hamper
Note
The Latin behind the verb, prōmoveō, "move forward, advance", sits closest to the surface here: something already under way is pushed further along. Its object is a process or condition, such as growth, healing, investment or understanding, rather than a person or a product, and that keeps it apart from the publicity meaning: a campaign that promotes healthy eating advertises it, while exercise that promotes health builds it.
Less common meanings
- 5To replace a pawn that has reached the last rank with a queen or another piece.
He advanced the pawn and promoted it to a rook to avoid stalemate.
Players usually promote a passed pawn to a queen, the strongest piece available.
UsageThe new piece follows to: promote a pawn to a queen.
Similarqueen
Note
A pawn that crosses the whole board is transformed, and the verb takes to before the new piece: promoted to a queen. The queen is the usual choice, but a player may take a knight, rook or bishop instead. Chess players call that choice underpromotion, and it is sometimes the only way to avoid stalemate.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- A pawn reaching the far end of the board is replaced by another piece. handbook.fide.com
- Players usually choose a queen, but may choose a knight, rook or bishop. support.chess.com
- Promotion to a knight, rook or bishop is called underpromotion. en.wikipedia.org
- Underpromotion can be necessary to avoid stalemate. chess.com
- 6Of a student, to advance to the next stage or level of schooling.
Pupils who meet the standards promote to the following year automatically.
He failed to promote with his classmates and repeated the grade.
UsageThe student is the subject: pupils promote to the next level, where most English speakers say they are promoted.
Similaradvance, progress, pass
Note
Singapore English uses the verb with no object: the student promotes, moving up to the next level of schooling, as when pupils promote from Primary 6 to the secondary section. Compare the workplace sense, where someone else does the promoting and the person moved is the object, or the subject of a passive (she was promoted). Here the learner is the subject and does the moving.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Pupils move from Primary 6 to secondary education. southviewpri.moe.edu.sg
- The promoted person is the object in an active construction, but the subject in a passive construction such as 'I was promoted'. cps.gov.uk
- 7To boost a catalyst's activity by altering the structure of its surface.
Practice
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Origin
Latin prōmoveō meant "to move forward" or "advance"; this word comes from prōmōtus, its perfect passive participle.