decorum

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin decōrum (“that which is seemly, propriety”),^[2][3][4] the noun use of the neuter singular of decōrus (“seemly, fitting, proper”),^[2][5][4] from decor (“grace, beauty, seemliness”),^[6][4][3] related to decēre (“to be proper”), the source of decent.^[4] Etymonline further traces the noun to decus (“an ornament”) and Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”), "on the notion of to add grace".^[3] French has had the same word, French décorum, since the 16th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

What suits a character, place or subject in a dramatic, literary or artistic work: before 1568, in Ascham's Scholemaster.^[2][7] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s,^[3] and Merriam-Webster gives 1568.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English as a term for fitness in literary composition, and was then applied to life itself.^[2][7] From the 1570s and 1580s it could mean what suited the circumstances,^[2] what suited a real person's rank or dignity,^[2][5] and proper behaviour in general.^[2][3] Shakespeare's Majesty, to keep decorum, must no less beg than a kingdom, in Antony and Cleopatra, shows the second of these.^[5][9] Early in the 17th century it also meant beauty arising from fitness, or simply orderliness, but both died out by the early 18th century.^[2][5] By 1755 Johnson defines the word entirely by conduct: "decency; behaviour contrary to licentiousness, contrary to levity; seemliness".^[9] Merriam-Webster still records a literary sense, for the standard practised by the neoclassicists.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1568 – what suits a character, place or subject in a composition (obsolete by 1756).^[2]
• c. 1571 – propriety of behaviour.^[2] Etymonline dates this to the 1580s.^[3]
• 1586 – what suits the circumstances; seemliness.^[2]
• 1589 – what suits a person's character, rank or dignity.^[2]
• 1601 – a fitting act (obsolete by 1717).^[2]
• 1603 – an act or requirement of polite behaviour.^[2]
• 1604 – beauty arising from fitness (obsolete by 1729).^[2]
• 1610 – orderly condition (obsolete by 1684).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Proper and dignified behaviour; propriety: The mourners behaved with decorum throughout the service.^[10][2][5]
2. A requirement of polite behaviour; in the plural, the proprieties.^[10][2][5]
3. In criticism, the standard of literary and dramatic fitness, especially among the neoclassicists.^[8][5]
4. (archaic) What suits a person's rank or dignity.^[2][5]
5. (obsolete, 1604–1729) Beauty arising from fitness or order; comeliness.^[2][5]

Related words

• decorous
• decent
• decorate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins