late 14c., from Old French lauder "praise, extol," from Latin laudare "to praise, commend, honor, extol, eulogize," from laus (genitive laudis) "praise, fame glory." Probably cognate with Old English leoð "song, poem, hymn," from Proto-Germanic *leuthan (cognates: Old Norse ljoð "strophe," German Lied "song," Gothic liuþon "to praise"), and from an echoic PIE root *leu-. Related: Lauded; lauding.