profanity

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin profānitās (“profaneness, impiety”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} recorded in Tertullian in the late 2nd or early 3rd century of pagan authors,^[2] from Latin profānus (“not sacred, unholy”) and the suffix -tās.^[2][5] The Latin adjective, the source of profane, comes according to Etymonline from the phrase prō fānō (“in front of the temple”), from prō (“before”) and the ablative of fānum (“temple”).^[3] The OED compares a single Middle French prophanité of 1492, and profanità.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being profane, or profane conduct or speech: 1563, in Ninian Winȝet's Certain Tractates.^[2][5] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date it to about 1600.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare for a long time:^[3] according to the OED the slightly later profaneness was the commoner word until the end of the 18th century, profanity was still missing from some dictionaries in the early 19th, and in 1846 Worcester noted that it was in common use in America and Scotland and also used by respectable English authors.^[2] Etymonline explains the sense of foul or obscene language from the Old Testament commandment against profaning the name of the Lord.^[3] It is now often used in the plural for swear words.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1563 – the quality of being profane; profane conduct or speech; a profane act or word.^[2][5]
• 1846 – noted by Worcester as common in America and Scotland.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Coarse, obscene or blasphemous language; swearing: The coach was fined for profanity during the match.^[8][5][2]
2. A swear word or other profane expression: a speech full of profanities.^[2][4]
3. The quality or state of being profane; irreverence towards God or holy things.^[8][5][4]

Related words

• profane
• fane
• blasphemy

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary (1895): blasphemy and profanity both mean irreverent use of words, but blasphemy is the stronger and profanity the wider, covering especially oaths that treat God's attributes or acts lightly, while blasphemy is more direct, deliberate and defiant and aimed at the most sacred things.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins