English
audacity
Audacity comes from Medieval Latin audācitās ‘audacity, presumption’, from Latin audāx ‘bold’, and ultimately from sōdēs ‘if you please’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōdēs‘if you please’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEavidus‘greedy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudeō‘to be bold, to dare’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudāx‘bold’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500audācitās‘audacity, presumption’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500audacite
- Englishearliest quotation 1960audacity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōdēs‘if you please’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEavidus‘greedy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudeō‘to be bold, to dare’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaudāx‘bold’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500audācitās‘audacity, presumption’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500audacite
- Englishearliest quotation 1960audacity
Earliest quotation: 1960, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, London: Herbert Jenkins: “Oh?” she said. “So you have decided to revise…”
Formed from -acity
Linked words
through Latin avidus ‘greedy’
Today it means
noun Insolent boldness, especially when imprudent or unconventional.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin sōdēs / audacity