Etymologically
Log in

annunciation

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word annunciation

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1389 a text printed in English Gilds More words from the 14th century
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman annunciacion via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin nūntius

Pronunciation

  • /əˌnʌnsɪˈeɪ̯ʃn̩/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English annunciacioun,[2] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman annunciacion, also anunciacion,[3][4] and Middle French annonciation,[3][2] and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin annūntiātiō (“report, message; preaching of the Gospel”).[3][5] The Latin noun is from annūntiō (“to report, announce”),[3][6][2] which also gave announce,[6] from ad- (“to”) and nūntiō (“to relate, report”), from nūntius (“messenger”),[6] from Proto-Indo-European *neu- (“to shout”).[6] The Christian senses were already present before English took the word: in Latin the announcement to Mary from the 7th century and the festival from the 11th in British sources, and in French the announcement from 1190, the festival from 1262 and the picture from 1347.[3] Compare Catalan anunciació, Spanish anunciación, Portuguese anunciação and Italian annunciazione.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The church festival of 25 March: 1389, in a text printed in English Gilds.[3] Etymonline dates this sense, in the form anunciacioun, to the early 14th century,[6] and Dictionary.com the word to 1350–1400.[5]

Semantic evolution

English first used the word for the feast and for the event it commemorates,[3] the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to foretell the incarnation.[6] The Old English name for the day had been bodungdæg.[6] The general sense "an announcing", which is the older one in Latin and Anglo-Norman,[3] appears in English only around the 15th century,[3][6] and the OED now calls it archaic.[3] The picture of the scene was named from 1556,[3] and in the late 19th century the word was applied to signals given by a device.[3]

Timeline

  • 1389 – the church festival of 25 March.[3] Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century.[6]
  • before 1400 – the announcement made by Gabriel to Mary, in the Cursor Mundi.[3]
  • before 1500 – the act of announcing, in general, in the Speculum Sacerdotale.[3] Etymonline says the early 15th century.[6]
  • 1556 – a picture of the Annunciation.[3]
  • 1879 – an indication given by a device through a visible or audible signal.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic) The act of announcing; an announcement or proclamation: the annunciation of a royal visit.[7][2][3]
  2. (with a capital) In Christianity, the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would bear Jesus.[8][2][3]
  3. (with a capital; also Annunciation Day) The church feast of this event, on 25 March; Lady Day.[8][2][3]
  4. (with a capital) A picture of the event.[3]
  5. An indication given by a device through a visible or audible signal.[3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Annunciation.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/annunciation. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·