Etymologically
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candid

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkæn.dɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin candidus (“shining white, pure, sincere”),[2][3][4] from Latin candeō (“to shine, glow”),[2][5][3] possibly through French candide.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

White (1630).[7][3]

Semantic evolution

The Latin word had already moved from “white” to “pure” and “sincere”.[4] In English “free from bias, impartial” is recorded in 1635 and “free from malice, kindly” in 1633;[7] the sense “frank, open, sincere” appears in 1675.[7][3][4] In 1929 the word was applied to unposed photographs, as in candid camera.[7][4] The literal sense “white” is now archaic.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1606 – first date given by Merriam-Webster.[5]
  • 1630 – white (archaic).[7][3]
  • 1633 – kindly disposed, not fault-finding (obsolete).[7]
  • 1635 – impartial, fair.[7]
  • 1675 – frank, open, sincere.[7][3][4]
  • 1929 – of photographs, unposed and informal.[7][4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Frank and open in what one says; sincere.
  2. Free from bias; impartial.
  3. Unposed or unrehearsed, as a photograph.
  4. (archaic) White; pure.

Noun

  1. An unposed photograph.

Word family

  • candidly
  • candidness
  • uncandid
  • candelabrum
  • candela
  • candidate
  • candle
  • candlepower
  • candlestick
  • candor
  • chandler
  • chandlery
  • candour

Usage notes

Random House lists ingenuous, naive and plain as synonyms of the first sense and discusses the group at frank.[6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press