dedicate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to give most of your energy, time, or attention to a person, job, or activity.
to devote oneself or one's resources to a particular task, cause, or person. Transitive, often used with the preposition 'to'.
Simple“She decided to dedicate her life to helping children in need.”
In context“The scientist dedicated her entire career to finding a cure for this rare disease, often working late into the night in her laboratory.”
UsageCommonly follows the pattern 'dedicate something/oneself to something'.
PitfallShe dedicated to help the poor. She dedicated herself to helping the poor.The verb is transitive; you must dedicate 'yourself' or 'your time' to something. Also, use the -ing form after 'to' in this context.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to say at the beginning of a book or song that it was written for a specific person.
to address or inscribe a creative work to another person as a mark of respect, affection, or gratitude.
Simple“The author chose to dedicate his first novel to his parents.”
In context“In the opening pages, the composer dedicated the symphony to his mentor, acknowledging the profound influence the older man had on his style.”
Synonymsinscribeaddress - 03 C1 Advanced
to hold a ceremony to officially open a new building or memorial.
to designate a building, monument, or park for a specific purpose or person through a formal ceremony.
Simple“The city will dedicate the new park to the soldiers who died in the war.”
In context“The archbishop arrived to dedicate the new cathedral, performing a traditional ceremony that lasted several hours before the public was admitted.”
Synonyms - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
to save something, like money or space, for one particular use.
to set apart or earmark a resource for a specific function or objective.
Simple“The company will dedicate a large part of its budget to new technology.”
In context“The urban planning committee decided to dedicate the northern section of the lot exclusively to low-income housing projects.”
“Costs are spiralling, with many local councils forced to dedicate the vast majority of their budgets to it.”
“One day she’ll be Matched with a rich child, and dedicate the rest of her life to making their wishes come true.”
From Middle English dedicaten (“to dedicate”), from dedicat(e) (“dedicated”, also used as the past participle of dedicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), from Latin dēdicātus, the perfect passive participle of dēdicō (“to dedicate, proclaim”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
from Middle English dedicat(e) (“dedicated”, also used as the past participle of dedicaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. The nouns is derived through substantivization from Latin dēdicātus, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.