promise

name

1. A female given name from English.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English promis, promisse, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).

1. An oath or affirmation; a vow.

   “When I make a promise, I always stick to it.”

   “He broke his promise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.”

2. A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.

   “He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.”

3. Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.

   “My native country was full of youthful promise.”

   “The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.”

4. A placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.

   “You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.”

5. Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.

   “He […] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English promis, promisse, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).

1. To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.

   “"You think that I'll take anything." "I know you will, sweet." … "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be." "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.”

   “Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.”

2. To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.

   “The clouds promise rain.”

   “I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.”