naked

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈneɪ.kɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English naked, inherited from Old English nacod,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *nakwadaz, the source also of Dutch naakt, German nackt and Gothic naqaþs,^[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *nogw- (“naked”), the source also of Latin nūdus, Sanskrit nagná- and Greek gymnós.^[2][5][4] It is related to nude.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unclothed, nude: about 850 in the OED, about 725 in Beowulf according to Barnhart.^[7][3] Old English nacod could also mean “not fully clothed”, a sense still used in the 18th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “blatant, unashamed”, as in naked ambition, dates from the 13th century,^[6] and the naked truth from the 14th, perhaps as a translation of Horace's nudaque veritas.^[6] Comparisons such as naked as a worm are from the mid-14th century, and naked as a needle from the late 14th.^[2] The naked eye, unaided by an instrument, is from the 1660s, when telescopes and microscopes made such a phrase necessary.^[2] In Berkshire dialect naked could also mean plain, shabby or poor.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 850 – unclothed.^[7]
• 13th century – blatant.^[6]
• 1340 – of parts of the body.^[7]
• 1660s – naked eye.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not wearing any clothes; nude.
2. Without the usual covering: a naked flame.
3. Plain and not hidden: the naked truth.
4. Without protection or defence.
5. Of the eye, not helped by a telescope or microscope.

Word family

• nakedly
• nakedness
• seminaked
• unnaked
• half-naked
• buck-naked
• mother-naked
• naked eye

Related words

• nude

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)