panegyric

English translation: to, of or on

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:panegyric
Selected answer:to, of or on
Entered by: Charles Davis

19:37 Mar 30, 2018
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: panegyric
I am unsure about the correct preposition to use after the word "panegyric" in the following examples:

He wrote a beautiful tribute to the book/author.

He wrote a beautiful panegyric to/of the book.

He wrote a beautiful panegyric to/of the author.

Or does it have to be something like:

He wrote a beautiful panegyric in praise of the author/book/etc.(?)

Thank you for any insights!
Arabic & More
Jordan
to, of or on
Explanation:
All three of these prepositions are common after "panegyric", and all are used often enough by respectable authors to make absolute rejection of any of them arbitrary and untenable.

If we do a diachronic analysis of "of" versus "to" in Google Books, using the Ngram viewer, it turns out that until very recently "of" was much more common. It's been gradually declining and they are now about equally common:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=panegyric to,p...

I think "to" is more likely to be used if the panegyric is about a person and addressed or dedicated to that person, though it is also used when the latter is not the case. "Of" is perfectly natural if the panegyric is simply about the person. Panegyrics are quite often "on" inanimate things. I think you might well speak about X's panegyric on Hamlet (rather than to or of Hamlet). But there are lots of examples of fine writers referring to panegyrics both to and of people.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2018-03-30 21:57:12 GMT)
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To put it another way, to say that it is panegyric to, same as tribute (or homage) is no more or less true than to say it is panegyric of, same as praise. Indeed, the choice may be determined, at least in part, but which of these words is at the back of one's mind.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 19:27
Grading comment
Thank you for this comprehensive reply. It was very helpful to me.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +7to, of or on
Charles Davis
4apply the blocking action to the signal
Jack Doughty
4on or upon
Rachel Fell


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
apply the blocking action to the signal


Explanation:
A panegyric to, same as tribute.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 518

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Charles Davis: Always tribute to, but by no means always panegyric to.
39 mins
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
to, of or on


Explanation:
All three of these prepositions are common after "panegyric", and all are used often enough by respectable authors to make absolute rejection of any of them arbitrary and untenable.

If we do a diachronic analysis of "of" versus "to" in Google Books, using the Ngram viewer, it turns out that until very recently "of" was much more common. It's been gradually declining and they are now about equally common:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=panegyric to,p...

I think "to" is more likely to be used if the panegyric is about a person and addressed or dedicated to that person, though it is also used when the latter is not the case. "Of" is perfectly natural if the panegyric is simply about the person. Panegyrics are quite often "on" inanimate things. I think you might well speak about X's panegyric on Hamlet (rather than to or of Hamlet). But there are lots of examples of fine writers referring to panegyrics both to and of people.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2018-03-30 21:57:12 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To put it another way, to say that it is panegyric to, same as tribute (or homage) is no more or less true than to say it is panegyric of, same as praise. Indeed, the choice may be determined, at least in part, but which of these words is at the back of one's mind.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 19:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 236
Grading comment
Thank you for this comprehensive reply. It was very helpful to me.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  B D Finch
12 hrs
  -> Many thanks!

agree  Björn Vrooman: It may be interesting to note that Cambridge and Collins, as UK dictionaries, seem to prefer "on," while M-W says "often +to." There's one more prep.; Longman's corpus ex. is +for: https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/panegyric (Oxford has one too)
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Björn :-) Oh dear! I must admit that "for" is possible too. Perhaps not the answer Amel was hoping for, but it's a good question.

agree  Robert Forstag
15 hrs
  -> Thank you, Robert :-)

agree  Piyush Ojha: My editions of Fowler were no help but this is undoubtedly correct.
16 hrs
  -> Thanks, Piyush :-) I couldn't find an authoritative statement on it either; I had to rely on online examples and my ear.

agree  philgoddard
18 hrs
  -> Thanks, Phil!

agree  Ashutosh Mitra: Yes this is correct.
2 days 7 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ashutosh :-)

agree  NishantM
11 days
  -> Thank you, Nishant!
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
on or upon


Explanation:
according to my Chambers dictionary, as well as to and of, as Charles mentions

https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft4g50...

https://www.religion-online.org/book-chapter/chapter-1-a-pan...

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herrick/pemberton.htm

Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:27
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for sharing these references. They were very helpful to me.

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