Applause is the sound of many people clapping to show approval. Loud applause, a round of applause, applause broke out.
It is uncountable and takes no article: there was applause, never an applause. The countable unit is a round of applause or a burst of applause. The verb is applaud, which also means to approve of something in general — I applaud the decision — with no clapping involved at all. Note a standing ovation, which is applause with the audience on its feet and is the strongest form there is.
1nounapplauseThe sound of people clapping to show approval.
“The applause went on for two full minutes.”
synonyms: clapping, ovation
applause is a sound of approval.
Also accepted in games: clapping
Latin applaudere is ad- plus plaudere, to clap — the same verb behind plaudits and explode, which originally meant to drive an actor off the stage by clapping. Approval and rejection were made with the same hands.
Latin
applausus
English, today
applause
Built from
Borrowed from Latin applausus. From Latin applausus, from applaudō (“to strike against, to applaud”) (whence applaud).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA