Meaning

noun someone honored for great achievements; figuratively someone crowned with a laurel wreath

adjective worthy of the greatest honor or distinction; - James Traub

originFirst attested during the end of the 15th century, in Middle English; borrowed from Latin laureātus, from laurea (“laurel crown, wreath”, a high reward given to poets and later to the triumphant) + -ātus (forming adjectives indicating possession) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from laureus (“of laurel”), from laurus (“laurel”). The verb was formed by…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0