integrity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/, /ɪnˈtɛɡɹɪti/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English integrite, borrowed from Old French integrité and directly integritās (“soundness, wholeness; chastity”),^[2][3][4] from integer (“whole, untouched”) (see integer).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Soundness, an unimpaired or uncorrupted condition: before 1400 in Barnhart;^[2] innocence or chastity, about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Wholeness or perfect condition is from the mid-15th century, about 1450 in the OED.^[3][5] Soundness of moral principle, uprightness and honesty, is first recorded in 1548.^[2][5][3] The condition of having no part missing, completeness, is from 1533.^[5] The integrity of a structure or of data, its soundness, is a modern use.^[6][7] Compare entirety, integral and integrate.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1400 – soundness.^[2]
• c. 1450 – unimpaired condition.^[5]
• 1533 – completeness.^[5]
• 1548 – honesty, uprightness.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
2. The state of being whole and undivided; unity.
3. Soundness of structure or condition: structural integrity.

Word family

• tensegrity

Related words

• integrate
• integrated
• integer
• integral
• entire
• entirety

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press