decentia

Forms

decentia f (genitive decentiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin decēns + -ia, from the present participle of decet (“it is fitting”).^[2][1][3] The TLL suggests that Cicero coined it on the model of Ancient Greek εὐπρέπεια (euprépeia, “seemliness”),^[3] and Georges calls one of Cicero's uses of it an attempt to translate that word.^[4]

The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *dek-ē- (“fits, is right”) and Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-eh₁-.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero (81–43 BC),^[6][3] who uses it in De oratore and De natura deorum for the fitting arrangement of colours and shapes, beside venustas (charm).^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers used it for dignity and honour, for fitness and propriety, and for outward ornament or beauty.^[8] British sources have it for appropriate character or treatment.^[9] Ecclesiastical Latin gives decency and propriety.^[10] English borrowed it as decency in the 1560s.^[11]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the becomingness of colours and shapes.^[7][6]
• 1315 – A Melrose charter uses it of the fitting insignia of a parish chapel.^[9]
• 1560s – English borrows it as decency.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Propriety, becomingness, comeliness.^[2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) Dignity, honour; fitness.^[8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Ornament, beauty.^[8]

Related words

• English decency

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com