modest

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈmɒd.ɪst/, US /ˈmɑː.dɪst/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French modeste or directly from Latin modestus, moderate, keeping due measure, sober, temperate,^[2][3][4][5] from a stem *medes-, related to modus, measure, manner (see mode, moderate),^[3][2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *med-, to take appropriate measures.^[2] Barnhart thinks it probably a back-formation from modesty (1531).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having a moderate estimate of one's own merits, restrained by propriety or humility: 1565, in an early thesaurus;^[3][6] the 1560s in Etymonline.^[2] Well-conducted, not domineering, is from 1574 and obsolete.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Of women, decorous, chaste, it is from the 1590s,^[2][6] and of women's dress, not showy, from the 1610s.^[2][6] Of demands or estimates, not excessive, it is from 1601,^[6] and Hoad dates the sense unpretentious to the 18th century.^[4] Figuratively, of things seeming to retire from view, it is from 1786.^[6]

Timeline

• 1531 – modesty.^[3]
• 1565 – humble.^[3]
• 1590s – decorous, of women.^[2]
• 1601 – not excessive.^[6]
• 1611 – of dress, decent.^[6]
• 18th century – unpretentious.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having or showing a moderate opinion of one's own abilities; humble.
2. Reserved or shy; not drawing attention to oneself.
3. Not showy or ostentatious; unpretentious.
4. Moderate or limited in size or amount: a modest income.
5. Observing the proprieties of speech, behaviour or dress; decent.

Word family

• modestly
• hypermodest
• overmodest
• pseudomodest
• supermodest
• unmodest

Related words

• modesty
• mode
• moderate
• modicum
• modify

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ 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