word history: When it entered English in the 17th century the word accolade referred to a gesture performed by a monarch when knighting someone: an embrace around the neck, a kiss, or a touch on the shoulders with a sword. The word comes via French from Provençal acolada, literally ‘an embrace around the neck’, ultimately from Latin ad- ‘to’ and collum ‘neck’; through collum it is linked to words such as collar and décolletage.