Etymologically
Log in

transparency

Etymology and origin of the English word transparency

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1591
Borrowed from
Latin transparentia
Ultimate origin
Latin (pāreō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tɹænsˈpæɹənsi/, /tɹænzˈpæɹənsi/ (UK); /tɹænsˈpæɹənsi/, /tɹænz-/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin trānspārentia,[2][3][4] from trānspārēns (“shining through”) (see transparent),[2][4] from trāns (“through”) and pāreō (“to appear”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something transparent, a transparent object: 1591 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1590s in Etymonline.[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The quality of being transparent, letting light through, is from 1615 (the 1610s in Etymonline).[6][2] A picture or print on a translucent material, seen by light shining through it, is from 1785,[2][6] and in photography a positive picture on glass from 1866.[2][6] The word was used as a mock translation of the German title Durchlaucht from 1844.[6] Figurative uses for openness in government and business are in recent dictionaries.[3]

Timeline

  • 1590s – transparence; a transparent object.[2][6]
  • 1615 – the quality of being transparent.[6]
  • 1785 – a picture lit from behind.[2]
  • 1866 – a photographic transparency.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being transparent.
  2. A positive photograph on a transparent base, viewed by light shining through it; a slide.
  3. Openness, especially of an organization or government about its decisions and conduct.

Word family

  • nontransparency

References

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

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Transparency.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/transparency. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·