lionize

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to treat someone as a celebrity or person of exceptional importance and give them conspicuous social attention

   Society hostesses began to lionize the young painter after his first successful exhibition.

2. 2
   verb

   dated: to visit and admire the notable sights of a place

   The visitors spent the afternoon lionizing the monuments of Rome.

From lion + -ize. Eighteenth-century English called a famous or fashionable person a lion, as though they were a public attraction; lionize consequently meant to show such a person around, court them socially, or treat them as a celebrity.

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