Homage

For a description of the medieval homage ceremony see commendation ceremony

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Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted. In this sense, a reference within a creative work to someone who greatly influenced the artist would be an homage. It is typically used to denote a reference in a work of art or literature to another, at least somewhat widely known, work of art; see

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In-joke for a somewhat similar meaning.

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The original meaning of homage was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position (investiture). It was a symbolic acknowledgment to the lord that the vassal was, literally, his man (homme). More generally, it included any formal profession of reverence to a sovereign.

Related Topics:
Feudal - Vassal - Lord

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