English
naïve
Naïve comes from French naïf ‘naive, dewy-eyed’, from Latin nātīvus ‘created, made’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₁tós‘begotten, produced’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnātos‘born’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnātus
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātus‘born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīvus
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātīvus‘created, made’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400naïf
- Frenchc. 1600–presentnaïfas naïve‘naive, dewy-eyed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922naïve
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₁tós‘begotten, produced’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnātos‘born’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnātus
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātus‘born’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīvus
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātīvus‘created, made’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400naïf
- Frenchc. 1600–presentnaïfas naïve‘naive, dewy-eyed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1922naïve
Earliest quotation: 1922, Henry Rutgers Marshall, The True, the Good and the Beautiful: “But it is this naïve man—and philosophers for the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’
general, kind, king, german, engine, generation, nature, nation, gender, genuine, gene, pregnant, genius, oxygen, ken, genre, gentle, indigenous, hydrogen, genocide, genus, kin, genital, ingenious, innate, germ, gentile, gens, nascent, puny, glycogen, genial, janata, genteel, gingerly, jaunty, genitive, azadi, nomen, estrogenic, 107 more
through Latin gnātus
through Latin nātus ‘born’
natural, noel, nee, natal, nada, 8 more
through Latin īvus
positive, festival, festive, festivity, 10 more
through Latin nātīvus ‘created, made’
Today it means
adj —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / naïve