Etymologically
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fade

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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
  • 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)