haughtiness

Etymology

It is formed from English haughty + -ness.^[1][2][3][4] An earlier haughtness, from the older adjective haught, is recorded from the late 15th century.^[2] The Century Dictionary preferred a different account, with the spelling hautiness as the proper one and the “gh” wrongly inserted, from Middle English hautenesse, a contraction of an unrecorded form built on hautein (“haughty”).^[5] Haughty extends haught with the suffix -y,^[1][6][7] and haught goes back through Old French haut (“high”) to Latin altus (“high”).^[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being haughty, pride or disdain: 1555, in R. Eden's translation of Peter Martyr of Angleria.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed its adjective, which had meant "high" and "noble" before it meant "proud".^[9][10] For a time haughtiness could also be a good thing: from 1564, in Golding's translation of Justinus, to 1613 it meant nobility, grandeur or high courage, a sense now obsolete.^[1][5] Milton used it in 1641 as a mock title in his Animadversions.^[1] By Johnson's dictionary (1755) only the unfavourable meaning was given: pride and arrogance.^[3]

Timeline

• late 15th century – the earlier form haughtness.^[2]
• 1555 – pride, arrogance, disdain.^[1][2]
• 1564 – nobility, grandeur, high courage (obsolete by 1613).^[1]
• 1641 – a mock title, in Milton.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being haughty; arrogance and disdain: His haughtiness cost him the support of the committee.^[1][11][3]
2. Used as a mock title.^[1]
3. (obsolete, 1564–1613) Loftiness of character; nobility, grandeur or courage.^[1][5]

Related words

• haughty
• haught
• hauteur
• altitude

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c Whitney, William Dwight, ed. (1889–1891), The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, New York: The Century Co. (1901 printing)
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster