Definition of "laureate" []

• Worthy of the greatest honor or distinction: "The nation's pediatrician laureate is preparing to lay down his black bag” ( James Traub). (adjective)
• Crowned or decked with laurel as a mark of honor. (adjective)
• Archaic Made of laurel sprigs, as a wreath or crown. (adjective)
• One honored or awarded a prize for great achievements especially in the arts or sciences: a Nobel laureate. (noun)
• A poet laureate. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "First published in the West in 1973, "The Gulag Archipelago" prompted the Kremlin to expel the Nobel laureate from the Soviet Union and strip him of citizenship in 1974."
• "The name of the laureate is engraved on the plate below the figures, and the text REG."
• "Having a Nobel laureate is NO guarrantee of leadership, control or efficiency."