reputation

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌrep.jəˈteɪ.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English reputacioun, borrowed from Old French reputacion and directly from Latin reputātiō (“a reckoning, consideration”),^[2][3][4] from reputāre “to think over, reckon”,^[2][5] from re- and putāre “to judge, suppose”, originally “to prune”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *pau- (“to cut, strike”).^[2] It is related to repute, compute and dispute.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Credit, good reputation, esteem: the mid-14th century in Etymonline,^[2] about 1375 in the OED in the phrase of reputation.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, opinion or estimation, good or bad, is from the late 14th century (about 1380 in the OED),^[2][6] and the Shorter Oxford dates the general estimate of a person's character to late Middle English.^[7] Opinion or supposition in general is obsolete.^[6][3] Phrases such as of great reputation and in no reputation are from about 1386 to 1413.^[6] The related noun repute had the neutral sense from the 16th century and the favourable one from the 17th.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – esteem, of reputation.^[6]
• c. 1380 – opinion.^[6]
• 1413 – of great reputation.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The opinion that people generally have of someone or something.
2. A high opinion; fame or respect.
3. A particular quality that someone or something is known for: a reputation for honesty.

Word family

• reputational
• demirep
• disreputation

Related words

• repute
• compute
• dispute
• putative

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press