Etymologically
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familiarity

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /fəmɪliˈæɹɪti/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English familiarite,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman familiarté, also familierté and familiarité,[4][5] and Old French familiarite,[6][2][7] which meant friendship, intimacy and fellowship from the 12th century.[4] Etymonline also sees a direct borrowing of Latin familiāritās (“intimacy, friendship, close acquaintance”),[6] the source of the French word,[4][2][8] formed from familiāris (“friendly, intimate”), the source of familiar, with the suffix -tās.[4][2][8] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1270, in the senses intimacy and fellowship.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Close friendship or intimacy with someone: perhaps about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.[4] Etymonline dates the word to about 1200,[6] the OED of 1989 and Merriam-Webster to the 13th century,[2] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.[9] The Oxford Dictionary of English notes that the early senses were "close relationship" and "sexual intimacy".[10]

Semantic evolution

Most of the senses developed in late Middle English.[4] From about 1410 the word was used, often as a euphemism, for sexual or romantic intimacy, especially of an improper kind.[4] From about 1430 it was used for a lack of ceremony or a free, informal manner, including an informality thought improper between people of different rank.[4] Etymonline dates "undue intimacy" to the late 14th century and connects it with the proverb familiarity breeds contempt.[6] The OED first records the proverb in 1539, in Taverner's Garden of Wisdom, where it meant that too much intimacy leads to disrespect; it now mostly means that long acquaintance makes one blind to a thing's merits.[4] Etymonline dates it to the 1620s.[6] The plural familiarities, instances of over-friendly behaviour, appears from 1537.[4] The main modern sense, knowledge of a thing gained from long association, is recorded from 1574, in Golding's translation of Calvin,[4] or about 1600 in Etymonline.[6] Some senses died out: a circle of intimate friends or relatives (1556–1710),[4][2] the loyalty due from a servant or kinsman (about 1450–1684), and the suitability of a food for the body (1551–1784).[4] In astrology the word was used from 1679 for a particular relationship between two planets, after a post-classical Latin use.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it first as "easiness of conversation; omission of ceremony; affability", and second as "acquaintance; habitude".[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – close friendship, intimacy.[4]
  • c. 1410 – sexual or romantic intimacy.[4]
  • c. 1430 – informality, absence of ceremony.[4]
  • 1537 – an instance of over-familiar behaviour, usually plural.[4]
  • 1539 – the proverb familiarity breeds contempt.[4]
  • 1556 – a circle of intimate friends (obsolete by 1710).[4]
  • 1574 – close knowledge of a thing through long association.[4]
  • 1620 – the quality of being well known to someone.[4]
  • 1679 – in astrology, a relationship between planets.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Good knowledge of something gained through long or close association: His familiarity with the old town made him a useful guide.[12][2][4]
  2. The quality of being well known to someone: the comforting familiarity of the kitchen.[4][2]
  3. Close friendship or intimacy.[12][2][4]
  4. A relaxed lack of ceremony; informality.[2][4]
  5. Too much informality or intimacy, or an instance of it, often in the plural: She resented his familiarities.[12][2][4]
  6. (obsolete, 1556–1710) A circle of intimate friends or relatives.[4][2]

Word family

  • overfamiliarity

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins