promote

The word “promote” means to raise someone to a higher rank or more important job. In plain terms, to move someone up in rank, or to help something become more popular or known.

“Promote” is pronounced pruh-MOHT (/pɹəˈmoʊt/ in IPA).

Here is “promote” used in a sentence: “She was promoted to regional manager after just two years.”

“Promote” is a verb.

The word “promote” comes from Latin. From Latin prōmōtus, past participle of prōmoveō ("to move forward, advance"), from pro- ("forward") plus moveō ("to move").

“Promote” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Promote” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to raise someone to a higher rank or more important job.

They are opposites. To promote someone is to raise them to a higher rank or more important job; to demote is to move them down to a lower one. A promotion usually brings more pay, responsibility, and status, while a demotion reduces them.

No. Besides raising someone in rank, promote also means to encourage or actively support something, as in promoting healthy eating, or to advertise a product to boost sales. The shared idea is helping something rise, whether a person's career, a good cause, or a brand.

For example: 'The company promoted her to regional manager after five successful years.' Here promote means to raise in rank. The person moved up is said to be promoted, and the change itself is called a promotion.

In the sense of rank, the direct opposite is demote, to lower someone's position. Related opposites include downgrade and relegate. When promote instead means to encourage or advertise, the opposites shift to words like discourage, suppress, or hinder, depending on the context.