nude English · revision 10592

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1531|origins=la nudus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /njuːd/, US /nuːd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|nūdus|t=naked, bare]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from the same Indo-European root as [[naked]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) The noun was a loan translation of French nu (obsolete nud).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In law, unsupported or not formally attested, as a ''nude contract'': 1531.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Mere, plain, simple is from 1551.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The sense unclothed, of the human body, appears in Cotgrave (1611) and Blount (1656) but was not in common use until the 19th century;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Etymonline calls it an artistic euphemism for naked.^(Etymonline) The noun, a naked figure in painting or sculpture, is from 1708, after French,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and ''in the nude'' is by 1856.^(Etymonline) ''Nudity'' is from the 17th century,^(Hoad 1986) and ''nudism'' from 1929, from French.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1531 – not formally attested (law).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1551 – mere, plain.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1611 – unclothed (rare).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1708 – a nude figure in art.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1856 – in the nude.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1929 – nudism.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Without clothing; [[naked]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having no covering; bare.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' Lacking an essential legal requirement, such as evidence or consideration.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An unclothed human figure, especially in [[painting]], [[sculpture]] or [[photography]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''in the nude'': naked.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nudely]]

+ * [[nudeness]]

+ * [[nudity]]

+ * [[seminude]]

+ * [[subnude]]

+ * [[nudie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[denude]]

+ * [[nudism]]

+ * [[naked]]

+ * [[nudist]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}