sincero

Forms

sincero (feminine sincera, masculine plural sinceri, feminine plural sincere)^[1] GDLI records the old forms scincèro, sencièro, senzièro, sincièro and singèro.^[2]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin sincērus (“clean, pure, unmixed; sound, honest”).^[3][4][5][1] French sincère (1549) and Spanish sincero are learned words too,^[4][6] while popular outcomes survive in Sardinian sinkeru, Catalan sencer (“whole, intact”) and Occitan sencer.^[7][8]

The origin of the Latin word is disputed.^[9][1] DELI, Nocentini, Devoto–Oli and Devoto take it as a compound of sin-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”) of semel (“once”) and simplex (“simple”), and a derivative of the root of crēscō (“to grow”): “of one growth, of a single origin”, hence “unmixed, pure”.^{[3][4][10][11]} De Vaan thinks the link with prōcērus (“tall”) hardly works for the sense, and follows Hiltbrunner in connecting it with caerimōnia (“sacredness, rite”) and an older adjective Latin *caerus (“whole, intact”), which would also be related to Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole”).^[9] Wiktionary objects that Proto-Italic *senkairos should have given Latin *sincīrus in Latin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Dante (before 1321), with the sense “pure, genuine”.^[3][5] In the Paradiso human nature, as it came from its maker, fu sincera e buona (“was pure and good”).^[12][13]

Semantic evolution

The moral sense “free from pretence” is first recorded in Domenico Cavalca (before 1342), and “saying exactly what one feels or thinks” in Ariosto (1532), who writes of loving con cor sincero e con perfetta fede (“with a sincere heart and perfect faith”).^[3][14] Sincerità is in Giovanni Villani, before 1348, and DEI finds sinceritate already in the 13th century in Iacopone.^[3][6]

Dante also used sincero for “bright, clear” of light and sight, a sense now archaic.^[5][10] The old physical sense “unmixed, unadulterated” survives in vino sincero and olio sincero.^[13][5] Sincerare “to convince of the truth” is from the early 17th century, and its reflexive sincerarsi “to make sure” from 1630.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Iacopone da Todi uses sinceritate.^[6]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses sincero for “pure, genuine”.^[3][5]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for “free from pretence”.^[3]
• Before 1348 – Sincerità appears in Giovanni Villani.^[3]
• 1532 – Ariosto uses sincero of a person who speaks the truth.^[3]
• 1549 – French sincère is first recorded.^[6]
• 1630 – Sincerarsi “to make sure” appears in Davila.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sincere, honest, frank: Devo essere sincero, il film non mi è piaciuto.^{[5][10][13][1]}
2. Genuinely devoted to an ideal or a faith: È un democratico sincero.^[5][10]
3. Of a feeling, genuine, heartfelt; in set formulas, sincere condoglianze, sinceri auguri.^[5][10][13]
4. Of a food or substance, pure, unadulterated: Questo olio è sincero, viene dal frantoio del paese.^[5][10][13]
5. (archaic, literary) Pure, perfect; bright, clear.^[5][10][1]

Word family

• sincerità
• sinceramente
• sincerare
• insincero
• sincerezza

Related words

• Latin sincērus
• French sincère

Usage notes

A separate word sìncero (stressed on the first syllable) is the zoological name of the African buffalo, from scientific Latin Syncerus, made from Greek syn- “together” and kéras “horn” because the horns almost meet; it is a 20th-century term.^[10][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 46
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3503
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca