Etymologically
Log in

honest

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɒn.ɪst/, US /ˈɑː.nɪst/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English honest or oneste,[2][3] borrowed from Old French honeste (“virtuous, honourable; decent, respectable”) (French honnête),[4][5] from Latin honestus (“honourable, respected”),[4][5] from honōs (“honour, esteem”) and the suffix -tus.[4][5][3] It is related to honour.[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Respectable, decent, of neat appearance, and also “free from fraud”: about 1300 in Etymonline;[4] probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, as respectable or honourable, according to Barnhart.[5] Its first sense was “held in or deserving of honour”.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The main modern sense, “fair, truthful, free from deceit”, is from about 1400,[4] though Barnhart finds it before 1325 in Cursor Mundi.[5] “Of good moral character, virtuous” is from 1390,[7] and about 1400 it also meant “chaste”, of women.[4][3] To make an honest woman of, to marry a woman after seducing her, is from the 1620s.[4][7] A vague term of praise, often patronising, as in honest fellow, is from 1551.[7] The noun honesty first meant “honour”, before 1338.[5] In Yorkshire dialect an honest cow gave her milk readily and did not kick.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – respectable; free from fraud.[4][5]
  • before 1325 – truthful, upright.[5]
  • before 1338 – honesty, honour.[5]
  • 1390 – virtuous.[7]
  • c. 1400 – chaste.[4]
  • 1551 – term of approval.[7]
  • 1620s – to make an honest woman of.[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Showing integrity; upright and fair.
  2. Not deceptive or fraudulent; genuine.
  3. Truthful; sincere and frank.
  4. (archaic) Of good repute; respectable.
  5. Plain and without pretension: honest food.

Adverb

  1. (informal) Honestly; truly.

Word family

  • honestness
  • honestly
  • overhonest
  • honesty
  • honest-to-goodness
  • honest broker
  • honour
  • honorary
  • dishonest

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)