English
integrity
Integrity comes from Latin integritās ‘soundness, integrity’, from integer ‘complete, perfect’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥th₂grosreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*n̥tagros‘untouched’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinteger‘complete, perfect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintegritās‘soundness, integrity’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intégrité
- Englishearliest quotation 1613integrity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*n̥th₂grosreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*n̥tagros‘untouched’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinteger‘complete, perfect’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintegritās‘soundness, integrity’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600intégrité
- Englishearliest quotation 1613integrity
Earliest quotation: 1613, William Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight: “Stand up, good Canterbury: Thy truth and thy integrity…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’
contact, taste, tangible, tame, taxis, attain, contingent, tactile, taxonomy, tact, contiguous, tangent, talon, contagion, tama, ataxia, contaminate, talus, thwack, 31 more
through Latin integer ‘complete, perfect’
through Latin integritās ‘soundness, integrity’
Today it means
noun Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / integrity