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density

Etymology and origin of the English word density

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1598
Borrowed from
French densité
Ultimate origin
Latin (densitas)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈden.sɪ.ti/, US /ˈden.sə.t̬i/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French densité or directly borrowed from Latin dēnsitās (“thickness”) (accusative densitatem),[2][3][4] from dēnsus (“thick, dense”) (see dense).[2][5] French densité continues Old French dempsité (13th century).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being close or compact, thickness: 1598 in MWU, about 1600 in Etymonline, 1603 in the OED.[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

In physics, the mass of matter per unit of volume is from the 1660s, 1665 in the OED.[2][6] The quantity of electricity per unit of volume or area is from 1873,[6] a crowded state or degree of aggregation, as of population, from 1851,[6] and the opacity of a photographic negative from 1879.[6] Figuratively, stupidity is from 1894.[6][7] In computing, the amount of data that can be stored in a given space is from 1956.[6]

Timeline

  • 1598 – closeness, thickness.[3]
  • 1665 – mass per unit volume.[6]
  • 1851 – crowdedness.[6]
  • 1873 – electrical density.[6]
  • 1879 – in photography.[6]
  • 1894 – stupidity.[6]
  • 1956 – in computing.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The degree to which something is crowded or closely packed: population density.
  2. (physics) The mass of a substance per unit of volume.
  3. The quantity of something per unit of length, area or volume.
  4. The darkness or opacity of a photographic image.
  5. (informal) Stupidity.

Word family

  • high-density
  • low-density
  • density function
  • flux density
  • high-density lipoprotein
  • low-density lipoprotein
  • magnetic flux density
  • probability density function
  • dense
  • condense
  • condensation

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 e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Density.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/density. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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