dedicate Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
devote; commit; consecrate; give.
- She committed herself to the work of God
- give one's talents to a good cause
- consecrate your life to the church
verb open to public use, as of a highway, park, or building
- The Beauty Queen spends her time dedicating parks and nursing homes
verb inscribe or address by way of compliment
- She dedicated her book to her parents
verb set apart to sacred uses with solemn rites, of a church

L. dedicatus, p. p. of dedicare to affirm, to dedicate; de- + dicare to declare, dedicate; akin to dicere to say. See Diction.

Dedicated; set apart; devoted; consecrated. "Dedicate to nothing temporal." Shak. Syn. -- Devoted; consecrated; addicted.

imperfect & past participle Dedicated; present participle & verbal noun Dedicating

To set apart and consecrate, as to a divinity, or for sacred uses; to devote formally and solemnly; as, to dedicate vessels, treasures, a temple, or a church, to a religious use.
Vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, . . . which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord. 2 Sam. viii. 10, 11.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. . . . But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. A. Lincoln.
To devote, set apart, or give up, as one's self, to a duty or service.
The profession of a soldier, to which he had dedicated himself. Clarendon.
To inscribe or address, as to a patron.
He complied ten elegant books, and dedicated them to the Lord Burghley. Peacham.
Syn. -- See Addict.