Etymologically
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pacific

Etymology and origin of the English word pacific

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
a. 1548
Borrowed from
Middle French pacifique
Ultimate origin
Latin (pacificus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pəˈsɪf.ɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French pacifique,[2][3][4] a learned borrowing from Latin pācificus (“peaceful, peacemaking”),[2][3] from pāx (genitive pācis) “peace” and the root of facere “to make”,[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to set, put”).[3] It is related to peace, pacify and pacifist.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Making, or tending to make, peace; conciliatory”: before 1548 in the OED and Barnhart,[7][2] the 1540s in Etymonline.[3] The spelling pacific, after Latin, is from Milton's Paradise Lost, 1667.[2]

Semantic evolution

Middle English already had pacifical “peace-loving”, from 1464.[2] “Of peaceful disposition, not belligerent” is from 1641,[7] and “characterized by peace or calm, tranquil” from 1633,[7] the 1630s in Etymonline.[3] The Pacific Ocean was named Mare Pacificum by Magellan in 1519, when he sailed into it and found it calmer than he expected;[3][5][2] the Italian Pigafetta, who sailed with him, recorded the name.[3] In English it appears as Pacificum in 1555 and as Pacific in 1660.[2][3] The Century Dictionary distinguished pacific, making or wishing to make peace, from peaceable, disposed to be at peace, and peaceful, in a state of peace.[3]

Timeline

  • 1464 – pacifical.[2]
  • a. 1548 – peacemaking.[7][2]
  • 1555 – Pacificum, the ocean.[2]
  • 1633 – calm, tranquil.[7]
  • 1641 – of peaceful disposition.[7]
  • 1660 – the Pacific Ocean.[3]
  • 1667 – the spelling pacific.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Tending to lessen or end conflict; conciliatory.
  2. Of a peaceful nature; calm, tranquil.

Word family

  • pacifically
  • pacificism
  • Pacific Ocean
  • pacify
  • pacifism
  • pacifist
  • peace
  • pacification
  • pact

Usage notes

Capitalized, Pacific refers to the Pacific Ocean and the lands around it; the American Pacific Northwest is so called by 1889.[3][8]

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 h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pacific.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pacific. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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