popularity
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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
- The state of being liked, admired or supported by many people.
Word family
- nonpopularity
- overpopularity
Related words
- popular
- people
- populace
- populist
- unpopularity
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press