promise

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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promise (countable and uncountable, plural promises)

  1. (countable) an oath or affirmation; a vow
    if I make a promise, I always stick to it
    he broke his promise
  2. (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.
  3. (uncountable) Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
    • 1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:
      My native country was full of youthful promise.
    • 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.
  4. (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[1], Google:
      You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.
  5. (countable, obsolete) bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Verb

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promise (third-person singular simple present promises, present participle promising, simple past and past participle promised)

  1. (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.
  2. (intransitive) To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
    The clouds promise rain.

Usage notes

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Synonyms

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Translations

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Derived terms

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terms derived from noun and verb

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Participle

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promise f sg

  1. feminine singular of promis

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Verb

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promise

  1. third-person singular past historic of promettere

Anagrams

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Romanian

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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promise

  1. feminine/neuter plural of promis

Verb

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promise

  1. third-person singular simple perfect indicative of promite
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