panegyric

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The Word of the Day for July 18 is: 

panegyric   \pan-uh-JEER-ik\   noun
     : a eulogistic oration or writing; also : formal or elaborate praise 

Example sentence:
     At the symposium, Dr. Fields introduced his colleague with a lengthy 
panegyric that detailed her research, her publications, and her most recent 
awards.

Did you know?
     On certain fixed dates throughout the year, the ancient Greeks would come 
together for religious meetings. Such gatherings could range from hometown 
affairs to great national assemblies, but large or small, the meeting was 
called a "panegyris." (That name comes from "pan," meaning "all" and "agyris," 
meaning "assembly.") At those assemblies, speakers provided the main 
entertainment, and they delivered glowing orations extolling the praises of 
present civic leaders and reliving the past glories of Greek cities. To the 
Greeks, those laudatory speeches were "panegyrikos," which means "of or for a 
panegyris." Latin speakers ultimately transformed "panegyrikos" into the noun 
"panegyricus," and English speakers adapted that Latin term to form "panegyric."