sincere English · revision 194
5 Oct 2026, 22:15 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
Changes in this edit
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /sɪnˈsɪə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /sɪnˈsɪɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
==Etymology==
− First recorded in the 1530s,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|frm|sincere]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary) [[der|la|sincērus|t=whole, clean, pure; genuine]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) It may come from Proto-Indo-European ''*sem-'' “one” + the root of Latin ''crēscere'' “to grow”, i.e. originally “of one growth, unmixed”.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ First recorded in the 1530s,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|frm|sincere]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary) [[der|la|sincērus|t=whole, clean, pure; genuine]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline) Watkins explains it as originally “of one growth”, that is, not hybrid, from Proto-Indo-European ''*sem-'' “one” + the root of Latin ''crēscere'' “to grow”;^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary) de Vaan finds plausible a lost Latin adjective meaning “whole, intact”.^(Etymonline) The popular story that it means “without wax” (Latin ''sine cērā'') has no etymological justification.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)
− The popular story that it means “without wax” (Latin ''sine cērā'') has no etymological justification.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “Pure, unmixed, unadulterated”, and of doctrine, “genuine, not falsified” (1530s).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Latin ''sincērus'' was used of things as “whole, clean, uninjured”, and figuratively as “sound, genuine, truthful”.^(Etymonline) From the 1530s the English word was also used of people and their feelings, “free from pretence or falsehood”,^(Etymonline) which is now its main sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1533 – Merriam-Webster's date.^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1536 – of doctrine, “genuine, pure”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1538 – “pure, unmixed”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1555 – “true, correct”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1700 – “uninjured”, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Free from pretence or deceit; genuine and heartfelt.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Pure; unmixed.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[sincerely]]
+ * [[sincereness]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[cereal]]
+ * [[Ceres]]
+ * [[crescent]]
+ * [[sincerity]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ ''Sincere'' implies freedom from sham or duplicity;^(AHD) ''unaffected'' and ''unfeigned'' stress freedom from dissembling;^(AHD) ''wholehearted'' implies unconditional commitment;^(AHD) ''hearty'' suggests warmth of feeling openly expressed;^(AHD) and ''heartfelt'' stresses depth and earnestness of feeling.^(AHD)
==References==