fade

Pronunciation

• IPA: /feɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English faden, borrowed from Old French fader (“to weaken, wither”), from fade (“pale, weak, insipid”),^[2][3][4] probably from Vulgar Latin *fatidus,^[2][3][4] perhaps a blend of Latin fatuus (“silly, tasteless”) (see fatuous) and vapidus (“flat, flavourless”) (see vapid).^[2][3][5] Barnhart notes the word is hard to trace beyond this hypothetical form.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lose brightness, grow pale: probably before 1325 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][3] The New Oxford's early sense is to grow weak, waste away.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Losing freshness, as of faded colours, developed alongside the sense of losing strength.^[5] Of sounds it is used by 1819.^[3] The transitive sense, to cause to fade, is from the 1590s,^[3] and in cinema and broadcasting, the gradual dimming of a picture or sound, from 1918.^[3][7] In golf a fade is a ball's swerve, from 1932,^[7] and the tapering haircut called a fade is from 1988.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to lose brightness.^[2]
• 1590s – to cause to fade.^[3]
• 1819 – of sounds.^[3]
• 1918 – fade in film.^[3][7]
• 1988 – a fade haircut.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To lose brightness, colour or loudness gradually; to dim.
2. To lose freshness or strength; to wither or wane.
3. To disappear gradually: fade away.
4. To make a picture or sound appear or disappear gradually: fade in, fade out.

Noun

1. A gradual dimming of a picture or sound.

Word family

• fader
• fadable
• fadedly
• fadedness
• fadeless
• fade-out
• prefade
• brake fade

Related words

• fatuous
• vapid
• fad

Usage notes

In Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire dialect, fade (more often green-fade or blue-fade) was the mould in cheese,^[8][7] and in west Scots a fade was a leader in games.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)