English
profanity
Profanity comes from Latin profānitās ‘profaneness, profanity’, from fānum ‘shrine, temple, sanctuary, place dedicated to…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznom‘temple’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānum‘shrine, temple, sanctuary, place dedicated to a deity’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofānus‘secular, unconsecrated, profane’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofānitās‘profaneness, profanity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1910profanity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*faznom‘temple’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfānum‘shrine, temple, sanctuary, place dedicated to a deity’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofānus‘secular, unconsecrated, profane’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprofānitās‘profaneness, profanity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1910profanity
Earliest quotation: 1910, John William Cousin, Bunyan, John: “The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to…”
Equivalent to profane + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
…
Classical Latin fānum ‘temple’
Classical Latin profānus ‘not religious, unclean’
Middle French profane
Middle English prophane
English profane
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’
do, deal, fact, hot, defense, feature, mid, benefit, fashion, theme, defence, fan, custom, sufficient, treasury, treasure, ethnic, ethical, thesis, aesthetic, synthetic, defendant, doom, tick, deed, ethic, demi, auditorium, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, auditor, medial, forfeit, medallion, certify, familial, duma, anesthetic, 117 more
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god, godhead, deity’
fair, feast, theology, dis, atheist, atheism, feral, theism, apotheosis, theist, fayre, 25 more
through Latin fānum ‘shrine, temple, sanctuary, place dedicated to…’
Today it means
noun The quality of being profane; quality of irreverence, of treating sacred things with contempt.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / profanity