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START / NODE 403Present-Day English14th century–today
candor
Frankness or honest expression, historically a word for brightness, radiance, whiteness, and unstained purity.
“Candor was brightness before it was honesty. The modern moral quality is a semantic afterimage of physical radiance and unstained whiteness.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishcandor
frankness or honest expression; earlier brightness and purity
↑GO DEEPER
French · Frenchcandeurbrightness, purity, innocence, or candor
- SOUND CHANGE
- English candor was borrowed through French candeur with English spelling and pronunciation.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- Brightness and unstained purity become frankness and honest expression.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- Merriam-Webster also allows direct Latin participation in the borrowing history.
THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
Crossing into a starred form changes the evidence class. The interface marks that crossing, preserves confidence, and never manufactures the next root to make the picture look complete.