devotion

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English devocioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French devocion,^[5][3][4] and directly Latin dēvōtiō (“a devoting, consecrating”),^[3][6][5] in Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com its later form dēvōtiō,^[4][7] a noun of action from dēvoveō (“to dedicate by a vow, sacrifice oneself, promise solemnly”),^[3][5] from dē- (“down, away”) and voveō (“to vow”).^[3] The Latin word also gave Old Occitan devotio, Catalan devoció, Spanish devoción and Italian devozione.^[5] Anglo-Norman devociun is recorded from the second quarter of the 12th century, for religious devotion and acts of worship.^[8] devout, vow and vote come from the same Latin verb.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Religious devoutness and reverence, and a feeling of devout awe: before 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[5][2] Etymonline gives "profound religious emotion, awe, reverence", c. 1200.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED sets out the history: in Latin the word meant first a devoting or consecrating by vow, then devotedness and loyalty, and in Christian use devotion to God; only that Christian sense passed through church Latin into the Romance languages and into Middle English.^[5] From it came "an act of religious worship" (Chaucer, about 1385), now only in the plural devotions, prayers,^[5][3] and a form of prayer for private or family use (before 1450).^[5] Chaucer used the word 24 times, also for earnest attention.^[10] After the Renaissance the Latin sense "the action of devoting" came back in Italian, French and English, first only in religious matters (1502 in English);^[5][3] in the 16th century the word was extended to people and secular things, which H. Estienne noted as a novelty in French in 1578.^[5] In English this sense, devoted attachment to a person or cause, is recorded from before 1530, in a letter of Wolsey.^[5] Johnson (1755) still put "the state of being consecrated or dedicated" first, before "piety".^[11] From 1542 to 1662 a devotion could also be an offering or alms.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – devoutness, reverence (Ancrene Riwle).^[5][2]
• 1340 – religious worship, prayer and praise.^[5]
• c. 1385 – an act of worship; later only plural, prayers.^[5]
• a1450 – a form of prayer for private use.^[5]
• 1502 – solemn dedication, consecration.^[5]
• a1530 – devoted attachment to a person or cause.^[5]
• 1542 – an offering, alms (obsolete by 1662).^[5]
• 1879 – in the Roman Catholic Church, worship directed to a special object.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Deep love and loyalty to a person, cause or activity: his devotion to his garden.
2. Religious zeal; piety.
3. devotions: prayers or acts of worship, especially private ones.
4. The giving of time or effort wholly to a purpose.

Word family

• devotional
• self-devotion

Related words

• devote
• devout
• vow
• vote
• votive

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.