✕
Advertisement

Origin and history of recency

recency(n.)

"state or quality of being recent," 1610s, from Medieval Latin recentia, from Latin recentem (nominative recens) "lately done or made, new, fresh, young" (see recent (adj.)). 

also from 1610s

Entries linking to recency

recent(adj.)

early 15c., "recently made," of foods, etc., "fresh, newly made," from Latin recentem (nominative recens) "lately done or made, of recent origin, new, fresh, young," from re- (see re-) + PIE root *ken- "fresh, new, young" (source also of Greek kainos "new;" Sanskrit kanina- "young;" Old Irish cetu- "first," Breton kent "earlier;" Old Church Slavonic načino "to begin," koni "beginning").

Meaning "of or pertaining to the time just before the present" is by 1620s. Related: Recently; recentness ("state or quality of being recent," 1670s, but OED reports recency (1610s) was "Common in 19th c.").

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    figure
    c. 1200, "numeral;" mid-13c., "visible appearance of a person;" late 14c., "visible and tangible form of anything," from Old French figure "shape, body; form of a word; figure of speech; symbol, allegory" (10c), from Latin figura "a shape, form, figure; quality, kind, style; figu
    maroon
    "very dark red or crimson color," 1791 (marone), from French couleur marron, the color of a marron "chestnut," the large sweet chestnut of southern Europe (maroon in that sense was used in English from 1590s), from the dialect of Lyons, ultimately from a word in a pre-Roman langu
    emphasis
    1570s, "intensity of expression," from Latin emphasis, from Greek emphasis "an appearing in, outward appearance;" in rhetoric, "significance, indirect meaning," from emphainein "to present, exhibit, display, let (a thing) be seen; be reflected (in a mirror), become visible," from
    Jehovah
    1530, Tyndale's transliteration of Hebrew Tetragrammaton YHWH using vowel points of Adhonai "my lord" (see Yahweh). Used for YHWH (the full name being too sacred for utterance) in four places in the Old Testament in the KJV where the usual translation the lord would have been inc
    obliterate
    "blot out, cause to disappear, remove all traces of, wipe out," c. 1600, from Latin obliteratus, past participle of obliterare "cause to disappear, blot out (a writing), erase, efface," figuratively "cause to be forgotten, blot out a remembrance," from ob "against" (see ob-) + li
    distress
    late 13c., "circumstance that causes anxiety or hardship," from Old French destresse (Modern French détresse), from Vulgar Latin *districtia "restraint, affliction, narrowness, distress," from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere "draw apart, hinder," also, in Medieva
    soda
    late 15c., sode, "sodium carbonate, an alkaline substance extracted from certain ashes" (now made artificially), from Italian sida (or Medieval Latin soda), in reference to a kind of saltwort from which soda was obtained, a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from a Catalan s
    delirium
    1590s, "a disordered state, more or less temporary, of the mind, often occurring during fever or illness," from Latin delirium "madness," from deliriare "be crazy, rave," literally "go off the furrow," a plowing metaphor, from phrase de lire, from de "off, away" (see de-) + lira
    quench
    Middle English quenchen, "to extinguish, put out" (heat, light, fire, also of desire, hunger, thirst), also figurative, "to bring to naught, eliminate, render ineffectual" (c. 1200), Old English acwencan "to quench" (of fire, light), from Proto-Germanic *kwenkjanan, probably a ca
    crepuscular
    figurative use, "dim, indistinct," is attested from 1660s; literal use, "pertaining to or resembling twilight," from 1755, from Latin crepusculum "twilight, dusk," related to creper "obscure, uncertain," from Proto-Italic *krepos "twilight," which is of uncertain origin. It is no

    Share recency

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near recency
    Advertisement