Etymograph

English

modesty

Modesty comes from Latin modestia ‘moderation, sophrosyne’, and goes back to modestus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodestus1‘moderate, calm, restrained, mild’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodestia2‘moderation, sophrosyne’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600modestie2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1871modesty2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin modestia
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English modesty
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1871, Sher Ali Afsos, The Araish-i-Mahfil: “... but the cars of chaste women have either…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodestusWiktionary, Latin modestia‘moderate, calm, restrained, mild’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmodestiaWiktionary, English modesty‘moderation, sophrosyne’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600modestieWiktionary, English modesty
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1871modestyWiktionary, English modesty. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1871, Sher Ali Afsos, The Araish-i-Mahfil: “... but the cars of chaste women have either…”

Formed from modest + -y

Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’

Latin modestus ‘moderate, calm, restrained, mild’

Middle French modeste

English modest

Every English word from Latin modestus

Today it means

noun The quality of being modest; having a limited and not overly high opinion of oneself and one's abilities.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “modesty”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin modestia. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin modestus / modesty

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