Etymologically
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opinion

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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

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