Etymologically
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modesty

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈmɒd.ə.sti/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French modestie and directly borrowed from Latin modestia (“moderation, sense of honour, correctness of conduct”),[2][3][4][5] from modestus (“moderate, keeping due measure”),[3][6][7] from modus (“measure, manner”),[3] from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to take appropriate measures”).[3] The French word is recorded in the sense "moderation" from about 1355, "lack of vanity" from 1553 and "decency, reserve" from the second half of the 16th century.[2] The adjective modest, from modeste, is recorded from the 1560s.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moderation, self-control, freedom from excess; and decorum, propriety of conduct: both in 1531, in Thomas Elyot's Boke Named The Gouernour.[2][3] Elyot remarked that the word was not known in English and that people who knew no good Latin authors wrongly called this virtue discretion.[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, moderation or mildness, notably of a ruler, lasted until the 19th century and is now obsolete or archaic.[2][4][6] The sense of having a moderate opinion of oneself, unassuming reserve, appears in 1553, in T. Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique,[2][3] and the sense of womanly propriety or purity in thought and manner from the 1560s.[3] For a time the word could also mean humility before God (1557–1650) and deferential feeling (1616–63).[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave it as "not arrogance; not presumptuousness", "not impudence" and "moderation; decency".[5] From 1731 it was short for modesty piece,[2][4] and since 1881 it has been used of a thing's modest size or appearance.[2] A verb, to throw away through prudery, was used once by Richardson, in Clarissa (1748).[2]

Timeline

  • 1531 – moderation, self-control (obsolete by 1839), and decorum, propriety, in Elyot.[2][3]
  • 1553 – an unassuming nature, a moderate opinion of oneself.[2][3]
  • 1557 – humility before God (obsolete by 1650).[2]
  • 1560s – womanly propriety and purity of thought and manner.[3]
  • 1731 – short for modesty piece.[2]
  • 1748 – verb, to throw away through prudery (obsolete).[2]
  • 1809 – in the United States, any of various plants.[2]
  • 1881 – the modest extent or appearance of a thing; unpretentiousness.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The quality of not being vain or boastful; a moderate view of one's own abilities and achievements: Despite her fame, she spoke about her work with great modesty.[6][8][2]
  2. Propriety in dress, speech and behaviour; the avoidance of anything indecent or revealing.[6][2][4]
  3. Smallness of size, amount or cost; lack of pretension or luxury: the modesty of their first flat.[2][4]
  4. (modifier) Designed to prevent part of the body from being shown by accident, as in modesty panel.[8]
  5. (archaic) Freedom from excess or exaggeration; moderation.[6][2][4]

Word family

  • overmodesty
  • modesty panel

References

  1. ^ 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 s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins