announcement

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈnaʊns.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is either borrowed from French annoncement or formed in English from announce and the suffix -ment.^[2][3] Announce is from Old French anoncier, from Latin annūntiāre, from ad- (“to”) and nūntiāre (“to report”), from nūntius (“messenger”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of announcing, a public or official notice: 1798.^[5][2][3] MWU gives 1781 as its first known use.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Before announcement the noun in this sense was announcing.^[3] Hoad notes that the verb announce itself, though from the 15th century, was rare before the 18th,^[4] which explains the late date of the noun.^[4][3] A brief notice in a newspaper and a formal printed card, as for a wedding or a change of address, are later senses.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1781 – first known use, according to MWU.^[6]
• 1798 – an announcement.^[5][2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A public statement that makes something known.
2. The act of announcing.
3. A short item or advertisement in a newspaper.
4. A formal printed notice, as of a wedding or birth.

Word family

• preannouncement
• reannouncement

Related words

• announce
• annunciation
• nuncio
• denounce
• pronounce

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins