evident

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈev.ɪ.dənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French evident and directly from Latin ēvidēns, perceptible, clear, obvious,^[2][3][4] from ē-, ex-, out, fully, and vidēns, present participle of vidēre, to see (see vision and wit),^[2][3][5] used in a middle sense, “making itself seen”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

True, faithful, authentic: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible;^[2] of signs or traces, plain to see, 1382 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Clear to the understanding, obvious, is from 1393, in Gower,^[2][6] and indubitable or conclusive, of testimony, from 1529, now obsolete.^[6] Evidence is older, from the 13th century,^[4] and self-evident belongs to the same idea of a thing showing itself.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1382 – authentic.^[2]
• 1393 – clear, obvious.^[2][6]
• 1529 – conclusive (obsolete).^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Easily seen or understood; obvious or apparent.

Word family

• evidentness
• nonevident
• superevident
• evidently
• self-evident

Related words

• evidence
• evidential
• vision
• video
• provide

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 f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press