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promise . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
promise , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
promise in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
promise you have here. The definition of the word
promise will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
promise , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English promis, promisse , borrowed from Old French promesse , from Medieval Latin prōmissa , Latin prōmissum ( “ a promise ” ) , feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō ( “ I send forth, I say beforehand, I promise ” ) , from pro ( “ forth ” ) + mittere ( “ to send ” ) ; see mission . Compare admit , commit , permit , etc. Displaced native ġehātan ( “ to promise ” ) and ġehāt ( “ a promise ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
promise (countable and uncountable , plural promises )
( countable ) an oath or affirmation ; a vow
if I make a promise , I always stick to it
he broke his promise
( countable , law ) A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple , “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe , to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.
( uncountable ) Reason to expect improvement or success; potential .
1963 , Margery Allingham , chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery , London: Chatto & Windus , →OCLC :The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
She shows great promise as an actress.
( countable , computing ) A placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.
2023 August 25, “Observables compared to other techniques”, in Angular 17 documentation , Google:You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.
( countable , obsolete ) bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised
Translations
vow
Albanian: premtim (sq) m , zotim (sq) m
Arabic: وَعْد m ( waʕd ) , وَعْدَة f ( waʕda )
Egyptian Arabic: وعد m ( waʕd )
Hijazi Arabic: وَعَد m ( waʕad )
Armenian: խոստում (hy) ( xostum )
Asturian: promesa f
Azerbaijani: söz (az) , vəd
Bashkir: вәғәҙә
Belarusian: абяца́нне n ( abjacánnje )
Bengali: অঙ্গীকার (bn) ( oṅgikar ) , প্রতিশ্রুতি (bn) ( protisruti )
Breton: promesa (br) f
Bulgarian: обеща́ние (bg) n ( obeštánie )
Burmese: ကတိ (my) ( ka.ti. ) , ခံဝန်ချက် (my) ( hkam-wanhkyak )
Catalan: promesa (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 諾言 / 诺言 (zh) ( nuòyán ) , 答應 / 答应 (zh) ( dāying ) , 許諾 / 许诺 (zh) ( xǔnuò ) , 誓言 (zh) ( shìyán ) , 承諾 / 承诺 (zh) ( chéngnuò )
Corsican: prumèssa f
Czech: slib (cs) m
Danish: løfte (da) n
Dutch: belofte (nl) f
Esperanto: promeso
Estonian: lubadus
Ewe: ŋugbedodo
Faroese: eiti n , lyfti n
Finnish: lupaus (fi)
French: vœu (fr) m , promesse (fr) f
Galician: promesa (gl) f
Georgian: დაპირება ( daṗireba )
German: Versprechen (de) n
Greek: υπόσχεση (el) f ( ypóschesi )
Ancient: ἐπαγγελία f ( epangelía ) , ὑπόσχεσις f ( hupóskhesis )
Hebrew: הַבְטָחָה (he) f ( havtakhá ) , נֶדֶר (he) m ( néder )
Hiligaynon: panaad
Hindi: वचन (hi) m ( vacan ) , शपथ (hi) f ( śapath ) , वादा (hi) m ( vādā ) , सौगन्द (hi) ( saugand )
Hungarian: ígéret (hu)
Icelandic: loforð (is) n
Interlingua: promissa
Irish: gealltanas m
Italian: promessa (it) f , giuramento (it) m , voto (it) m
Japanese: 約束 (ja) ( やくそく, yakusoku )
Kazakh: уәде ( uäde ) , уағда ( uağda )
Khmer: ពាក្យសន្យា ( piək sɑnyaa )
Korean: 약속(約束) (ko) ( yaksok )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بەڵێن ( bellên )
Northern Kurdish: soz (ku) f , ehd (ku) f , belên f , newîn (ku) f , wad (ku) f
Kyrgyz: убада (ky) ( ubada )
Lao: ຄຳສັນຍາ ( kham san nyā )
Latin: prōmissum n , promissiō f
Latvian: solījums m
Lithuanian: pažadas m
Low German: Verspriäken n ( Paderbornisch, Sauerländisch )
Luxembourgish: Verspriechen n , Verspriechung f
Macedonian: ветување n ( vetuvanje )
Malay: janji (ms)
Maltese: wegħda f
Manx: gialdin
Maore Comorian: wahadi
Maori: kupu taurangi
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: амлалт (mn) ( amlalt )
Nepali: वचन ( vacan )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: løfte (no) n
Nynorsk: løfte n
Old English: ġehāt n
Ottoman Turkish: وعد ( vaʾad )
Pashto: واده (ps) f ( wāda ) , وعده f ( wa'da ) , ژمنه (ps) f ( žmᶕna )
Persian: وعده (fa) ( va'deh ) قول (fa) ( qowl )
Piedmontese: promëssa f
Polish: obietnica (pl) f
Portuguese: promessa (pt) f
Romanian: promisiune (ro) f , legământ (ro) , făgăduială (ro) f , făgăduință (ro) f
Russian: обеща́ние (ru) n ( obeščánije )
Sanskrit: प्रतिज्ञा (sa) f ( pratijñā ) , शपथ (sa) m or f ( śapatha ) , वचन (sa) n ( vacana ) , व्रत (sa) n ( vrata )
Sardinian: promissa f
Scots: behecht
Scottish Gaelic: gealltanas m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: обећа́ње n
Roman: obećánje n
Sinhalese: පොරොන්දුව ( poronduwa )
Slovak: sľub m
Slovene: obljuba (sl) f
Somali: wacad (so)
Spanish: promesa (es) f
Swahili: ahadi (sw)
Swedish: löfte (sv) n
Tagalog: pangako (tl)
Tajik: ваъда (tg) ( vaʾda ) , қавл ( qavl )
Tatar: вәгъдә (tt) ( wäğdä )
Telugu: ఒట్టు (te) ( oṭṭu )
Thai: สัญญา (th) ( sǎn-yaa )
Tok Pisin: promis
Turkish: söz (tr) , vaat (tr)
Turkmen: wada , söz
Ukrainian: обіця́нка f ( obicjánka )
Urdu: وعدہ ( va'da )
Uyghur: ۋەدە ( wede )
Uzbek: vaʼda (uz) , soʻz (uz)
Venetian: inpromésa f
Vietnamese: lời hứa (vi)
Volapük: prom (vo)
Waray-Waray: sa-ad
Welsh: addewid m or f
Yiddish: צוזאָג ( tsuzog )
Translations to be checked
Verb
promise (third-person singular simple present promises , present participle promising , simple past and past participle promised )
( transitive , intransitive ) To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow .
1936 Aug. , Ernest Hemingway , "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber ", Cosmopolitan :
"You think that I'll take anything." "I know you will, sweet ." "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be." "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.
2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind ”, in The Economist , volume 407 , number 8841 , page 70 :Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. [ …] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.
She promised to never return to this town again.
He promised me a big kiss if I would drive him to the airport.
I can't promise success, but I'll do the best I can.
( intransitive ) To give grounds for expectation , especially of something good.
The clouds promise rain.
Usage notes
Synonyms
Translations
to commit to something
Afrikaans: belowe (af)
Albanian: premtoj (sq)
Amharic: (please verify ) ቃል ገባ ( ḳal gäba ) , (please verify ) ቃል መግባት ( ḳal mägbat )
Arabic: وَعَدَ ( waʕada ) , تَعَهَّدَ ( taʕahhada )
Egyptian Arabic: وعد ( waʕad )
Hijazi Arabic: وَعَد ( waʕad )
Armenian: խոստանալ (hy) ( xostanal )
Asturian: prometer
Azerbaijani: vəd vermək , söz vermək , vəd etmək (az)
Belarusian: абяца́ць impf ( abjacácʹ ) , паабяца́ць pf ( paabjacácʹ )
Bulgarian: обеща́вам (bg) impf ( obeštávam ) , обеща́я (bg) pf ( obeštája )
Burmese: ဝန်ခံ (my) ( wanhkam ) , အာမခံ (my) ( ama.hkam )
Catalan: prometre (ca)
Cebuano: saad
Cherokee: ᎠᏚᎢᏍᏗᎭ ( aduisdiha )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 諾言 / 诺言 (zh) ( nuòyán ) , 答應 / 答应 (zh) ( dāying ) , 許諾 / 许诺 (zh) ( xǔnuò ) , 承諾 / 承诺 (zh) ( chéngnuò ) , 保證 / 保证 (zh) ( bǎozhèng )
Czech: slibovat (cs) impf , slíbit (cs) pf
Danish: love (da)
Dutch: beloven (nl)
Esperanto: promesi (eo)
Estonian: lubama
Faroese: lova , geva lyfti
Finnish: luvata (fi)
French: promettre (fr)
Old French: prometre
Galician: prometer (gl)
Georgian: დაპირება ( daṗireba )
German: versprechen (de)
Greek: υπόσχομαι (el) ( ypóschomai )
Ancient: ὑπισχνέομαι ( hupiskhnéomai ) , ἐπαγγέλλομαι ( epangéllomai )
Haitian Creole: pwomèt
Hebrew: הִבְטִיחַ ( hivtíakh )
Hindi: वचन देना ( vacan denā ) , प्रतिज्ञा (hi) ( pratijñā )
Hungarian: ígér (hu) , megígér (hu)
Icelandic: lofa (is) , heita (is) , strengja heit
Ido: promisar (io)
Indonesian: berjanji (id) , menjanjikan (id)
Italian: promettere (it) , giurare (it)
Japanese: 約束する (ja) ( やくそくする, yakusoku suru )
Kapampangan: mangaku
Kazakh: уәде беру ( uäde beru )
Khmer: សន្យា (km) ( sɑnyaa )
Korean: 약속하다 (ko) ( yaksokhada )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بەڵێندان ( bellêndan )
Kyrgyz: сөз берүү ( söz berüü ) , убада берүү ( ubada berüü )
Lao: ສັນຍາ (lo) ( san nyā ) , ໃຫ້ສັນຍາ ( hai san nyā )
Latin: polliceor , prōmittō , spondeō
Latvian: solīt
Lithuanian: žadėti
Lü: ᦁᦱᦙᦃᦱᧄᧈ ( ʼaamẋaam¹ )
Luxembourgish: verspriechen
Macedonian: ветува impf ( vetuva )
Malay: berjanji
Maltese: wegħed
Middle Korean: 벼기다 ( pyekita )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: амлах (mn) ( amlax )
Navajo: ádee hazhdidziih
Nepali: वाचा गर्नु ( baca garnu )
Norman: promettre
Norwegian:
Bokmål: love (no)
Nynorsk: lova
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: обѣщати impf ( oběštati )
Old East Slavic: обѣщати impf ( oběščati ) , обѣчати impf ( oběčati )
Old English: ġehātan
Persian: قول دادن (fa) ( qowl dâdan ) , وعده دادن ( va'de dâdan )
Polish: obiecywać (pl) impf , obiecać (pl) pf
Portuguese: prometer (pt)
Romanian: promite (ro)
Russian: обеща́ть (ru) impf ( obeščátʹ ) , пообеща́ть (ru) pf ( poobeščátʹ )
Sardinian: promìtere
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: обѐћати pf , обећа́вати impf
Roman: obèćati pf , obećávati impf
Slovak: sľubovať impf , sľúbiť pf
Slovene: obljubiti (sl) pf
Southern Altai: сӧс бер- ( sös ber- )
Spanish: prometer (es)
Swahili: -ahidi (sw)
Swedish: lova (sv)
Tagalog: mangako
Tajik: ваъда додан ( vaʾda dodan ) , қавл додан ( qavl dodan )
Thai: ให้สัญญา ( hâi-sǎn-yaa ) , สัญญา (th) ( sǎn-yaa )
Turkish: söz vermek (tr)
Turkmen: söz bermek
Ukrainian: обіця́ти impf ( obicjáty ) , пообіця́ти pf ( poobicjáty )
Uzbek: vaʻda bermoq
Vietnamese: hứa (vi)
Volapük: promön (vo)
Welsh: addo (cy)
Yiddish: צוזאָגן ( tsuzogn )
Yoruba: lérí
To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good
Derived terms
Further reading
“promise ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“promise ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
Promise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Participle
promise f sg
feminine singular of promis
Further reading
Anagrams
Italian
Verb
promise
third-person singular past historic of promettere
Anagrams
Romanian
Pronunciation
Adjective
promise
feminine / neuter plural of promis
Verb
promise
third-person singular simple perfect indicative of promite