nudist

Etymology

It is formed from English nude + -ist,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} after nudism.^[2][7] Etymonline allows that it may also be from French nudiste,^[3] but the OED records the French word only from 1930, and compares the earlier Nuditarian.^[2] Nude is from Latin nūdus (“naked, bare, unclothed”),^[2][3][8] from Proto-Indo-European *nogʷ- (“naked”), the same base as naked.^[3][8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A painter or photographer who depicts nude subjects: 1866, in Nature & Art; this sense is now rare.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word took its main sense from nudism, the practice of going unclothed, which the OED records from 1857.^[2] A nudist in this sense, someone who advocates or practises nudism, is first recorded in the Boston Daily Globe in 1925,^[2][4] and the adjective, of places and institutions set aside for nudists, in Popular Science in 1926.^[2] Etymonline, following the 1989 edition of the OED, dates both nudism and nudist to 1929,^[3][9] and quotes Time of that year calling nudism a cult made in Germany and imported to France.^[3] An earlier English word for the same person was Nuditarian, recorded from 1836.^[2]

Timeline

• 1866 – a painter or photographer of nude subjects (now rare).^[2]
• 1925 – a person who advocates or practises nudism.^[2][4]
• 1926 – adjective, relating to or set aside for nudism or nudists.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who practises or advocates nudism; a naturist.^[4][2][7]
2. (rare) An artist who paints or photographs nudes.^[2][1]

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or reserved for nudists or nudism: a nudist beach.^[4][2][7][1]

Related words

• nudism
• nude
• nudity
• naked
• denude

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press