Etymologically
Log in

announcement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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