Dedication

n. setting apart; devotion; inscription (in a book, poem, etc.)

Dedication (Lat. dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim, to announce), is properly the setting apart of anything by solemn proclamation. It is thus in Latin the term particularly applied to the consecration of altars, temples and other sacred buildings, and also to the inscription prefixed to a book, etc., and addressed to some particular person.
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Noun
1. complete and wholehearted fidelity
(hypernym) fidelity, faithfulness
(derivation) give, dedicate, consecrate, commit, devote
2. a ceremony in which something (as a building) is dedicated to some goal or purpose
(hypernym) ceremony, ceremonial, ceremonial occasion, observance
(hyponym) rededication
(derivation) dedicate
3. a message that makes a pledge
(synonym) commitment
(hypernym) message, content, subject matter, substance
(hyponym) oath, swearing
(derivation) give, dedicate, consecrate, commit, devote
4. a short message (as in a book or musical work or on a photograph) dedicating it to someone or something
(synonym) inscription
(hypernym) message
(derivation) dedicate
(classification) music
5. the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team"
(synonym) commitment, allegiance, loyalty
(hypernym) cooperation
(hyponym) communalism
(derivation) give, dedicate, consecrate, commit, devote

(n.)
The act of setting apart or consecrating to a divine Being, or to a sacred use, often with religious solemnities; solemn appropriation; as, the dedication of Solomon's temple.
  

(n.)
An address to a patron or friend, prefixed to a book, testifying respect, and often recommending the work to his special protection and favor.
  

(n.)
A devoting or setting aside for any particular purpose; as, a dedication of lands to public use.
  

Solemn appropriation. It may be expressed or implied.

An express dedication of property to public use is made by a direct appropriation of it to such use, and it will be enforced.

A dedication of property to public or pious uses may be implied from the acts of the owner. E.g., permission to the public for the space of eight or even six years, to use a street without bar or impediment, is evidence from which a dedication to the public may be inferred.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.