opinion English · revision 2678

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1325, Cursor Mundi|origins=la opīnor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈpɪn.jən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|opinioun]],^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|opinion|t=what one thinks, supposition, judgment, belief]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and directly [[bor|la|opīniō|t=opinion, conjecture, belief; esteem]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from the stem of [[m|la|opīnor|t=I think, judge, suppose]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source of [[opine]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline takes it to [[ine-pro|*op-|t=to choose]], the root of [[option]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A judgment or conclusion, especially one not resting on certain knowledge: before 1325, in ''Cursor Mundi'',^(Barnhart 1988) the early 14th century;^(Etymonline) the OED has an opinion on a particular point from before 1300.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has always tended toward a judgment influenced more by feeling than by reason.^(Etymonline) The estimate one forms of a person or thing is from about 1375^(OED 1989) or about 1500,^(Etymonline) and the formal statement of an expert or a judge from about 1470.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The general view held by a community, ''public opinion'', is by 1735,^(Etymonline) although opinion qualified as common or general is from about 1425.^(OED 1989) ''To be of opinion'' is from 1485.^(OED 1989) Johnson (1755) defined it as “persuasion of the mind, without proof or certain knowledge”.^(Johnson 1755) ''Opinionated'' is from 1601, from an earlier opinionate.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) ''Opinion poll'' is a 20th-century compound.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a view on a particular point.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1325 – a judgment, belief.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1375 – estimation of a person.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1470 – a formal expert opinion.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1601 – ''opinionated''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1735 – ''public opinion''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A view or [[judgment]] about something, not necessarily based on fact or [[knowledge]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The beliefs or views of a group of people: ''public opinion''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # An estimate of the worth of a person or thing: ''a high opinion of herself''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A formal judgment by an expert: ''a second opinion''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' A judge's formal statement of the reasons for a decision.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[opinioned]]

+ * [[opinionative]]

+ * [[preopinion]]

+ * [[self-opinion]]

+ * [[IMHO]]

+ * [[advisory opinion]]

+ * [[concurring opinion]]

+ * [[dissenting opinion]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[opine]]

+ * [[opinionated]]

+ * [[option]]

+ * [[adopt]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Opinion'' applies especially to a personal judgment on grounds not sufficient to make it certain;^(AHD) a ''view'' is an opinion affected by one's feelings or prejudices, while a ''conviction'' is a firmly held belief.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}