Etymologically
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integritas

Etymology and origin of the Latin word integritas

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (integer)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪnˈtɛ.ɡrɪ.taːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [inˈtɛː.ɡri.tas][1]

Forms

integritās f (genitive integritātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from integer “untouched, whole” with the suffix -tās.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of soundness of body and of probity.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant soundness, wholeness of body or mind, as Cicero's integritās corporis, and in Celsus freedom from fever.[2][6][7] In Vitruvius it meant purity, also of style.[2] In Cicero it meant moral uprightness, probity, integrity, and in Seneca of women chastity.[2] In Macrobius it meant the whole as opposed to a part.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant integrity, wholeness, soundness, purity, virginity, uprightness, health.[8] Medieval Latin used it for the whole, entirety.[9] It was borrowed into French intégrité, and English integrity came about 1400, “innocence, chastity”, while Old French entiereté gave English entirety.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of soundness and probity.[2][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of purity.[2][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of chastity.[2][5]
  • c. 1400 – English integrity is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Soundness, wholeness; freedom from fever.[2]
  2. Purity.[2]
  3. Uprightness, integrity; chastity.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The whole, entirety.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Integritas.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/integritas. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·