promise

UK/ˈpɹɒmɪs/US/ˈpɹɑmɪs/

verbA24 meanings One of the most common words in English · #294 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: promised, promising, promises

To promise is to tell someone you will certainly do a thing, and to mean it. I promise I will call the moment I land. Two children hooking little fingers over a secret.

The noun sits right beside the verb: you make a promise, keep a promise, break a promise, and a broken promise costs more than the thing itself. Learn the patterns — promise to do something, promise someone something, promise that you will. Promise also means to show signs of: the sky promises rain, and a promising student is one who looks set to do well. The word is strong in ordinary speech, so if you are not sure, say I will try rather than I promise. And be careful with people who promise the earth.

Definitions of promise

1verbpromiseTo tell someone you will certainly do something.A2~8%
“She promised to water the plants while we were away.”
2verbhappenTo show signs that something will happen.B2~2%
“The heavy sky promises rain before evening.”
3nounpledgeA statement that you will certainly do something.A2~82%
“He kept his promise and paid the money back.”
synonyms: pledge, word
4nounpotentialSigns that someone or something will be good in the future.B2~8%
“The young goalkeeper shows real promise.”
synonyms: potential

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 12 sentences found in the wild and placed 12 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Phrases it lives in

promise the earth — to promise far more than you can deliver.

Where it comes from

Latin prōmittere was built from pro, forth, and mittere, to send — a promise is words sent out ahead of the deed. Its past participle prōmissum, a promise, became Old French promesse and then Middle English promis. The same mittere hides inside mission, admit and permit.

Proto-Indo-European
*mey- (change)
Latin
prōmissum — a promise
Medieval Latin
prōmissa
Old French
promesse
Middle English
promis
English, today
promise

Built from

prōmittō · Latin — to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise
pro · Latin — forth
mittere · Latin — to send

From Middle English promis, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Everyday Verbs

Practise this word

promise in the wild

An election promise or campaign promise is a promise or guarantee made to the public by a candidate or political party that is trying to win an election.
Election promise
Across the Western world, political parties are not highly likely to fulfill their election promises.
Election promise
From at least the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, many jurisdictions regarded a man's promise of engagement to marry a woman as a legally binding contract.
Breach of promise
Although most Scouting and Guiding organizations use the word "promise", a few, such as the Boy Scouts of America, tend to use "oath" instead.
Scout Promise
Typically, Scouts and Guides will make the three-fingered salute when reciting the promise.
Scout Promise

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the mittere family

promise admit

promise — used about once every 22 pages · #294 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of promise

1verbpromiseTo tell someone you will certainly do something.A2~8%

“She promised to water the plants while we were away.”

2verbhappenTo show signs that something will happen.B2~2%

“The heavy sky promises rain before evening.”

3nounpledgeA statement that you will certainly do something.A2~82%

“He kept his promise and paid the money back.”

synonyms: pledge, word

4nounpotentialSigns that someone or something will be good in the future.B2~8%

“The young goalkeeper shows real promise.”

synonyms: potential

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 12 sentences found in the wild and placed 12 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.