indecency

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin indecentia (“unseemliness, impropriety”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a noun of quality from indecēns (“unbecoming, unseemly”),^[2][3][5] formed from in- (“not”) and decēns (“becoming, fitting”),^[3][4] the present participle of decēre (“to be fitting”),^[3] which Etymonline reconstructs as from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”).^[3] The adjective indecent is recorded from the 1560s.^[3] Johnson (1755) gave French indecence as the source of the noun.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unseemliness, unbecoming or outrageous conduct: 1589, in Puttenham's Arte of English Poesie.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

At first the word meant anything unseemly or outrageous.^[2][3] It could also apply to looks: in 1605 Sylvester's Du Bartas lists "lips too great,..Or sinking nose, or such indecencies" as blemishes of form,^[6][2] a use that the OED records only to 1648.^[2] From 1639, in Fuller's Historie of Holy Warre, it could name a single unseemly action or trait.^[2] The modern sense, an offence against accepted standards of decency, sometimes with a hint of lewdness or obscenity, is recorded from 1692, in Walker's translation of Epictetus.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) still defined it mildly, as something contrary to good manners, "something wrong, but scarce criminal".^[7] An indecent act, as an offence, is recorded from 1774, in Warton's History of English Poetry.^[2] Darwin called "the hatred of indecency" a modern virtue.^[6] In current law the word applies to sexually offensive behaviour,^[8] and Wiktionary lists the phrases gross indecency and public indecency.^[1]

Timeline

• 1589 – unseemliness; unbecoming or outrageous conduct.^[2][5][3]
• 1605 – unseemliness or unattractiveness of form (obsolete by 1648).^[2][6]
• 1639 – an unseemly action or trait.^[2]
• 1692 – a quality that offends against standards of decency.^[2][3]
• 1774 – an indecent act; an offence against decency.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being indecent; conduct that offends accepted standards of decency or propriety, often with a suggestion of lewdness.^[9][5][2]
2. Something indecent, such as an act, a word or a manner of behaving; an offence against decency.^[5][9][2]
3. (law) Sexually offensive behaviour.^[8]
4. Unseemliness; unbecoming or outrageous conduct.^[2][6]
5. (obsolete, 1605–48) Unseemliness of form; an instance of this.^[2][6]

Related words

• indecent
• decency
• decent

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2009), 5th ed., Harlow: Pearson Longman
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins