naughty English · revision 97
5 Oct 2026, 20:55 by bogdan “Extended entry (pronunciation, etymology, semantic history, meanings) from AHD, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary”
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈnɔːti/ ''(Received Pronunciation)''^(Wiktionary)
+ * Respelling: ''nôˈtē''^(AHD)^(RHWU); also ''ˈnä-tē''^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ From [[enm|noughti]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) from ''nought'' “nothing; evil” + [[-y]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from [[ang|nāwiht|t=nothing]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline) a compound of ''nā'' “no” + ''wiht'' “thing, being”.^(AHD) See [[naught]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “Needy, having nothing” (late 14th century; the OED's first quotation is from 1377),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and also “evil, immoral, corrupt”.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In the 16th century ''naughty'' was an all-purpose word for “bad”: it could describe bad weather, vicious animals, and food or goods of poor quality.^(AHD)^(OED 1989) All these senses have disappeared.^(AHD) The milder sense “disobedient, mischievous”, especially of children, is recorded from the 1630s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a sexual sense from 1869.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) As the American Heritage Dictionary puts it, ''naughty'' has in a sense risen from nothing.^(AHD)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1377 – “having nothing; poor, needy”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1526 – “bad, inferior in quality”, common c. 1540–1650.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1529 – of persons, “morally bad, wicked”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1541 – of weather, “bad, nasty”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1630s – of children, “disobedient, mischievous”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1869 – sexual sense, in the slang phrase ''to do the naughty''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Badly behaved or mischievous, especially of children.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Mildly indecent or improper; risqué.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(archaic)'' Wicked, immoral.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[naughtily]], [[naughtiness]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ * [[naughty step]], [[naughty word]]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[naught]], [[nought]]^(Etymonline)^(AHD)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}