different between exaltation vs preferment

English

Etymology

From French exaltation, from Latin exalt?ti? (“exaltation, elevation”), from exalt? (“raise, elevate, exalt”), from ex (“from, out of”) + altus (“high”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???.?z?l.?te?.??n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

exaltation (countable and uncountable, plural exaltations)

1. The act of exalting or raising high; also, the state of being exalted; elevation.
2. The refinement or subtilization of a body, or the increasing of its virtue or principal property.
3. (astrology) That placement of a planet in the zodiac in which it is deemed to exert its strongest influence.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 483:

     He often stood there in a muse until dusk fell, and then darkness, while once in a while the moon, ‘in her exaltation’ as the astrologers say, rose to remind him that such worldly musings meant nothing to the hostile universe without.

4. (rare) The collective noun for larks.
   • 1989, Ronald K. Siegel, Intoxication: The Universal Drive for Mind-Altering Substances, Park Street Press (2009), ?ISBN, page 192:

     In a sense, the editorial cartoons were correct when they suggested that an exaltation of larks can fly under the influence into an aspect of vulturous behavior.

   • 2005, Lucille Bellucci, Journey from Shanghai, iUniverse (2005), ?ISBN, page 83:

     “I'd like to think of my father being lifted to God in an exaltation of larks.”

   • 2005, Linda Bird Francke, On the Road with Francis of Assisi: A Timeless Journey Through Umbria and Tuscany, and Beyond, Random House (2006), ?ISBN, page 232:

     It is said that an exaltation of larks, which had assembled on the roof of Francis's hut, suddenly—and inexplicably—took to the air just after sunset, wheeling and singing.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:exaltation.
5. (medicine, archaic) An abnormal sense of personal well-being, power, or importance, observed as a symptom in various forms of insanity.

Translations

French

Etymology

From Latin exalt?ti?.

Pronunciation

Noun

exaltation f (plural exaltations)

1. exaltation

Related terms

• exalter

Further reading

• “exaltation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology 1

From prefer +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p???f??m?nt/

Noun

preferment (countable and uncountable, plural preferments)

1. (now historical) Prior claim (on payment, or on purchasing something); the first rights to obtain a particular payment or product. [from 15th c.]
2. (obsolete) The fact of being pushed or advanced to a more favourable situation; furtherance, promotion (of a candidate, action, undertaking etc.). [15th–17th c.]
3. Advancement to a higher position or office; promotion. [from 15th c.]
4. A position (especially in the Church of England) that provides profit or prestige. [from 16th c.]
5. (now rare) The fact of preferring something; preference. [from 16th c.]

Etymology 2

pre- +? ferment

Noun

preferment (plural preferments)

1. A mixture of flour, water and yeast that is allowed to ferment prior to another baking process

Related terms

• prefermentation