Etymologically
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gratitude

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɡræt.ɪ.tʃuːd/, US /ˈɡræt̬.ə.tuːd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French gratitude or directly Medieval Latin grātitūdō (“thankfulness”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Latin grātus (“thankful, pleasing”) (see grace),[2][3][4] which Watkins traces to Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“to favour”).[3] Merriam-Webster notes that the first English use was Scots.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Good will: before 1447 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Grace or favour, chiefly in Scots, is from 1500–20, in Dunbar,[2][7] and a free gift or gratuity from 1535.[7] The modern sense, thankfulness, is first recorded in 1565.[2][7][3] Gratify, grateful, gratuity and gratuitous go back to the same Latin word.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1447 – good will.[2]
  • 1500–20 – grace, favour (Scots).[2][7]
  • 1535 – a gratuity (Scots).[7]
  • 1565 – thankfulness.[2][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A feeling of thankfulness or appreciation, as for gifts or favours.

Word family

  • overgratitude

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 g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press