🏛️ Receiver of property 📖 Honored person

dedicatee

6.4

A person whom an author names to show respect in a book

noun
/ˌdɛdɪkəˈti/

Literature

: dedicatario

As it happens, many of Hitchens' dedicatees are not simply artists whose work has inspired him.

Examples

But settling on a dedicatee presents an almost impossible choice, says British novelist Edward Docx: "for, aside from the chosen one, every person you hold dear is going to be disappointed."

Academic text (2008)
A more apt dedicatee for God Is Not Great could not have been found.

Academic text (2008)
Amis also finds dedicatees close to home, though this has included mentioning his famous-writer father.

Academic text (2008)
32 thesis prints might also incorporate portraits of patrons or original compositions aimed at celebrating a dedicatee.

Academic text (2013)
The dedicatee of the novel received special recognition at the book launch.
She was honored as the dedicatee of the art exhibition for her contributions to the community.
Many authors choose a personal friend as the dedicatee of their books to honor their support.

Surface Forms

dedicatee singular

dedicatees plural

Morphology

dedicatee = dedicate (transparent) = dedicate + ee

Formed by adding the productive recipient/beneficiary suffix '-ee' to the verb 'dedicate', so the meaning 'person to whom something is dedicated' is directly predictable.

Etymology

The word dedicatee comes from the word dedicate, which means 'to give or set aside to honor someone', plus the ending -ee that means 'person who receives an action', as in employee. So a dedicatee is the person an author or artist names to honor a book or artwork.