Encomium is a Latin word deriving from the Classical Greek ἐγκώμιον (enkomion) meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Encomium also refers to several distinct aspects of rhetoric:
A general category of oratory
A method within rhetorical pedagogy
A figure of speech. As a figure, encomium means praising a person or thing, but occurring on a smaller scale than an entire speech.
The eighth exercise in the progymnasmata series
A literary genre that included five elements: prologue, birth and upbringing, acts of the person's life, comparisons used to praise the subject, and an epilogue.
