popularity

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌpɒp.jəˈlæɹ.ɪ.ti/ (UK); /ˌpɑ.pjəˈlæɹ.ə.ti/, /ˌpɑ.pjəˈlɛɹ.ə.ti/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French popularité, or formed from popular and -ity,^[2][3][4] from Latin populāritas, from populāris (“of the people”), from populus (“people”).^[3] Classical Latin popularitas meant fellow citizenship.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Popular or democratic government: 1548 in the OED, 1546 in MWU, a sense now obsolete.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Courting popular favour (1597–98), vulgarity of speech (1599), the populace (1632) and populousness (1654) were further senses now lost.^[5] The fact of being liked or admired by the people, the modern sense, is from 1601,^[5] about 1600 in Etymonline.^[2] The popularity contest is from 1880.^[2]

Timeline

• 1546 – democratic government (obsolete).^[4][5]
• 1597 – courting popular favour (obsolete).^[5]
• 1601 – being liked by many.^[5]
• 1880 – popularity contest.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The state of being liked, admired or supported by many people.

Word family

• nonpopularity
• overpopularity

Related words

• popular
• people
• populace
• populist
• unpopularity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press