Etymologically
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honesty

Etymology and origin of the English word honesty

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1330
Borrowed from
Old French honesté
Ultimate origin
Latin (honestas)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈɒn.ɪ.sti/, US /ˈɑː.nɪ.sti/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French honesté (“respectability, decency, honourable action”) (12th century),[2][3][4] from Latin honestās, honour, reputation, integrity,[2][3] from honestus, honourable (see honest).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Honour or respect conferred: about 1330 in the OED;[5] splendour, honour, elegance, the early 14th century in Etymonline.[2] In English the word first had more to do with honour than with being honest.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Moral excellence in a wide sense is from 1340,[5] decency and decorum from 1375,[5] and a woman's chastity from about 1385,[5][2] all now obsolete or archaic.[5][6] Uprightness and virtue in general is from about 1400 in Etymonline,[2] and narrowed later to truthfulness and integrity, the modern sense.[4][6] The plant honesty is from 1597 in the Historical Thesaurus,[7] named for its translucent seed pods, which symbolize a lack of deceit.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – honour conferred.[5]
  • 1340 – moral excellence.[5]
  • c. 1385 – chastity.[5]
  • c. 1400 – uprightness.[2]
  • 1597 – the plant.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being honest; integrity.
  2. Truthfulness, sincerity or fairness.
  3. (archaic) Chastity or virtue.
  4. A European plant, Lunaria annua, grown for its purple flowers and flat, silvery seed pods.

Word family

  • overhonesty

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Honesty.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/honesty. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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