Etymologically
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evident

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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

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