naive

Etymology

It is borrowed from French naïve,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the feminine of naïf,^[2][3][7] from Old French naif (“natural, native, genuine; innocent”),^[3][4] from Latin nātīvus (“native, natural, not artificial”),^[3][7][8][9] the source of native.^[10][8] The Latin adjective comes from nātus (“born”),^[11] the past participle of nāscor (“to be born”).^[11] The masculine form, as naïf, had been taken into English earlier, in the 16th century.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Natural and unaffected, artless, innocent: before 1614, in the autobiography of the Scottish minister James Melville;^[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1614,^[7] while Barnhart's first date is 1654^[4] and Etymonline's the 1650s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In 1673 Dryden made fun of naive and naiveté in Marriage à la Mode, where they are among the French words that the affected Melantha adds to her conversation.^[3][10] The word was long imperfectly naturalized, and the OED's first edition (1906) noted that its pronunciation was still unsettled.^[2] From the meaning "natural, unaffected" it came to mean lacking experience or judgement, credulous.^[2][5] In philosophy it was used by 1855 in translations of Schiller, who contrasted naive with reflective poetry.^[3] In art (1871) it describes a painting in a simple, direct style, or a self-taught painter (1951),^[2] and in science (1906) a person or animal not previously exposed to a drug, experiment or the like.^[2] Merriam-Webster records the noun, a naive person, from 1974.^[7] The derivative naiveté is recorded from 1673, and its English form naivety from the 18th century.^[4][9]

Timeline

• a1614 – natural, artless.^[2][7]
• 1654 – Barnhart's first date.^[4]
• 1673 – naiveté, in Dryden's Marriage à la Mode.^[10]
• 1855 – in philosophy, in translations of Schiller.^[3]
• 1871 – (art) in a simple, untrained style.^[2]
• 1906 – (science) not previously exposed to a treatment or experiment.^[2]
• 1974 – the noun, a naive person.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Showing a lack of experience, wisdom or judgement; too ready to believe others: It was naive of him to lend his car to a stranger.
2. Simple, artless and unaffected; innocent.
3. (art) Of a painting or painter: in a simple, direct style, usually without formal training.
4. (science) Of a person or animal: not previously exposed to a particular drug, treatment or experiment.

Noun

1. (rare) A naive person.

Word family

• naively

Related words

• naif
• naivety
• native
• nature
• nation

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press