dignitary

Etymology

It is formed from English dignity + -ary,^[2][3][4] on the pattern of propriety and proprietary, according to the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English.^[5][6] The OED allows Latin dignitās or the English noun as the base, compares prebendary for the sense and voluntārius, from voluntās, for the form, and notes French dignitaire, recorded in 1752.^[7] Klein also starts from the Latin noun.^[8] The English noun in turn is from Old French dignite, from the same Latin noun, from dignus (“worthy”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person holding high rank or office, especially in the Church: 1672–3, in Andrew Marvell's The Rehearsal Transpros'd.^[7] Etymonline likewise has the 1670s and Dictionary.com 1665–75, but Merriam-Webster gives 1603.^[2][4][3][9]

Semantic evolution

The noun rests on dignity in the sense "elevated office, civil or ecclesiastical", current since about 1300,^[2] and it first leaned towards the Church, as the OED's comparison with prebendary suggests.^[7] Johnson (1755) defined it only as a clergyman raised above a parish priest, with a quotation from Swift.^[10] Modern dictionaries define it as anyone of high official rank or position, and Collins names government before the Church.^[11][12][3] An adjective, belonging to a dignity, is recorded from 1715.^[7][5]

Timeline

• 1672 – a person of high rank or office, especially in the Church.^[7] Merriam-Webster gives 1603.^[3]
• 1715 – adjective, of or invested with a dignity.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person of high official rank or position, especially in government or the Church: Several foreign dignitaries attended the ceremony.^[11][12][3]

Adjective

1. Of, belonging to or having a dignity, especially in the Church.^[3][7][5]

Word family

• dignitarial

Related words

• dignity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt