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honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions:
a man of honor.
a source of credit or distinction:
to be an honor to one’s family.
high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank:
to be held in honor.
such respect manifested:
a memorial in honor of the dead.
high public esteem; fame; glory:
He has earned his position of honor.
the privilege of being associated with or receiving a favor from a respected person, group, organization, etc.:
to have the honor of serving on a prize jury; I have the honor of introducing this evening’s speaker.
Usually, honors. evidence, as a special ceremony, decoration, scroll, or title, of high rank, dignity, or distinction:
political honors; military honors.
(initial capital letter) a deferential title of respect, especially for judges and mayors (preceded by His, Her, Your, etc.).
honors.

special rank or distinction conferred by a university, college, or school upon a student for eminence in scholarship or success in some particular subject.
an advanced course of study for superior students.
Compare honors course.

chastity or purity in a woman.
Also called honor card. Cards.

Bridge. any of the five highest trump cards, as an ace, king, queen, jack, or ten in the trump suit, or any of the four aces in a no-trump contract.
Compare honor trick.
Whist. any of the four highest trump cards, as an ace, king, queen, or jack in the trump suit.

Golf. the privilege of teeing off before the other player or side, given after the first hole to the player or side that won the previous hole.
to hold in honor or high respect; revere:
to honor one’s parents.
to treat with honor.
to confer honor or distinction upon:
The university honored him with its leadership award.
to worship (the Supreme Being).
to show a courteous regard for:
to honor an invitation.
Commerce. to accept or pay (a draft, check, etc.):
All credit cards are honored here.
to accept as valid and conform to the request or demands of (an official document).
(in square dancing) to meet or salute with a bow.
of, relating to, or noting honor.
be on / upon one’s honor, to accept and acknowledge personal responsibility for one’s actions:
West Point cadets are on their honor not to cheat on an exam.
do honor to,

to show respect to.
to be a credit to:
Such good students would do honor to any teacher.

do the honors, to serve or preside as host, as in introducing people, or carving or serving at table:
Father did the honors at the family Thanksgiving dinner.
Contemporary Examples

In my small way, I want to honor you by writing about breaking the silence.
To the Woman Warrior I Didn’t Know Monsoon Bissell January 4, 2013

Through the dedication and commitment of countless family members, we managed to honor our loved ones through these efforts.
My Family’s Lockerbie Rage Brian Flynn August 5, 2010

To honor the occasion, DVF presented a collection—or rather, a party—that was dubbed “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Fashion’s Most Powerful Women: Victoria Beckham & Diane von Furstenberg Show at New York Fashion Week Erin Cunningham February 9, 2014

Within days after the trio went on the lam, an admirer created a Facebook page in her honor.
Fugitive Stripper’s Wild Ride Lynn Waddell August 10, 2011

So she started a foundation, and handed out awards to Bill Clinton, among others, in honor of her late husband this week.
Donna Karan’s Zen Approach to Cancer Liz Kulze June 14, 2011

Historical Examples

To you—you alone—I will give every guarantee that a man may give of his honor and honesty.
Tony Butler Charles James Lever

I did all that in honor could be done to avert the war, but without avail.
United States Presidents’ Inaugural Speeches Various

Miss Sprague is a lady of rare ability and an honor to her profession.
History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III) Various

These only becloud, they do not help to point the way of safety and honor.
United States Presidents’ Inaugural Speeches Various

You see him in the midst of warriors who are dancing in honor of his victories.
The Stories of El Dorado Frona Eunice Wait

noun, verb
the US spelling of honour
n.

c.1200, “glory, renown, fame earned,” from Anglo-French honour, Old French honor (Modern French honneur), from Latin honorem (nominative honos, later honor) “honor, dignity, office, reputation,” of unknown origin. Till 17c., honour and honor were equally frequent; the former now preferred in England, the latter in U.S. by influence of Noah Webster’s spelling reforms. Meaning “a woman’s chastity” first attested late 14c. Honors “distinction in scholarship” attested by 1782. Honor roll in the scholastic sense attested by 1872. To do the honors (1650s) originally meant the customary civilities and courtesies at a public entertainment, etc.
v.

mid-13c., honuren, “to do honor to,” from Old French honorer, from Latin honorare, from honor (see honor (n.)). In the commercial sense of “accept a bill due, etc.,” it is recorded from 1706. Related: Honored; honoring.

A custom more honoured in the breach than the observance. Whoever will look up the passage (Hamlet I. iv. 16) will see that it means, beyond a doubt, a custom that one deserves more honour for breaking than for keeping: but it is often quoted in the wrong & very different sense of a dead letter or rule more often broken than kept. [Fowler]

In addition to the idiom beginning with
honor