opinion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈpɪn.jən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English opinioun,^[2] borrowed from Old French opinion (“what one thinks, supposition, judgment, belief”),^[3][2] and directly borrowed from Latin opīniō (“opinion, conjecture, belief; esteem”),^[2][3] from the stem of opīnor (“I think, judge, suppose”),^[2][4] the source of opine.^[3][4] Etymonline takes it to Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to choose”), the root of option.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A judgment or conclusion, especially one not resting on certain knowledge: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi,^[3] the early 14th century;^[2] the OED has an opinion on a particular point from before 1300.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has always tended toward a judgment influenced more by feeling than by reason.^[2] The estimate one forms of a person or thing is from about 1375^[5] or about 1500,^[2] and the formal statement of an expert or a judge from about 1470.^[5][2] The general view held by a community, public opinion, is by 1735,^[2] although opinion qualified as common or general is from about 1425.^[5] To be of opinion is from 1485.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as “persuasion of the mind, without proof or certain knowledge”.^[6] Opinionated is from 1601, from an earlier opinionate.^[3][4] Opinion poll is a 20th-century compound.^[1]

Timeline

• before 1300 – a view on a particular point.^[5]
• before 1325 – a judgment, belief.^[3]
• c. 1375 – estimation of a person.^[5]
• c. 1470 – a formal expert opinion.^[5]
• 1601 – opinionated.^[3]
• 1735 – public opinion.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A view or judgment about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
2. The beliefs or views of a group of people: public opinion.
3. An estimate of the worth of a person or thing: a high opinion of herself.
4. A formal judgment by an expert: a second opinion.
5. (law) A judge's formal statement of the reasons for a decision.

Word family

• opinioned
• opinionative
• preopinion
• self-opinion
• IMHO
• advisory opinion
• concurring opinion
• dissenting opinion

Related words

• opine
• opinionated
• option
• adopt

Usage notes

Opinion applies especially to a personal judgment on grounds not sufficient to make it certain;^[7] a view is an opinion affected by one's feelings or prejudices, while a conviction is a firmly held belief.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b 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 h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin