English
prude
Prude comes from Latin prōde ‘profitable, useful’, and goes back to sum ‘to be’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum‘to be’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōsum‘to be useful’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdest‘is useful’third-person singular of prōsum
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōde‘profitable, useful’reanalysis of prōdest
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prude
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1907same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsum‘to be’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōsum‘to be useful’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōdest‘is useful’third-person singular of prōsum
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōde‘profitable, useful’reanalysis of prōdest
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400prude
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1907same form
Earliest quotation: 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey: “He became shy. "I hadn't meant to tell you.…”
Linked words
through Latin sum ‘to be’
future, present, essential, presence, absence, entity, absent, 13 more
through Latin prōsum ‘to be useful’
through Latin prōde ‘profitable, useful’
Today it means
noun A person who is or tries to be excessively proper, especially one who is easily offended by matters of a sexual nature.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin sum / prude