English
perspicuity
Perspicuity comes from Late Latin perspicuitās ‘evidentness”, “self-evidency’, from Latin perspicuus ‘clear”, “transparent”’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-1‘to see, to look, to observe’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperspic(iō)2
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperspicuus1‘clear”, “transparent”’
- Late Latinmodernperspicuitās1‘evidentness”, “self-evidency’literally ‘transparency”, “clarity”, “lucidity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1880perspicuity1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English perspicuity
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin perspicuus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, George Bernard Shaw, London: Archibald Constable & Co.: “[…]whether through the first officer's want of perspicuity or…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-Wiktionary, English perspicuity‘to see, to look, to observe’root named by Wiktionary
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperspic(iō)Wiktionary, Latin perspicuus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEperspicuusWiktionary, English perspicuity‘clear”, “transparent”’
- Late LatinmodernperspicuitāsWiktionary, English perspicuity‘evidentness”, “self-evidency’literally ‘transparency”, “clarity”, “lucidity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1880perspicuityWiktionary, English perspicuity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, George Bernard Shaw, London: Archibald Constable & Co.: “[…]whether through the first officer's want of perspicuity or…”
Equivalent to perspicuous + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’
…
Proto-Italic *spekjō ‘to observe, see’
Latin speciō ‘observe, watch, look at’
Latin perspiciō ‘see through’
Latin perspicuus ‘evident, manifest, perspicuous’
English perspicuous
The story
Borrowed from Late Latin perspicuitās (“evidentness”, “self-evidency”, literally “transparency”, “clarity”, “lucidity”), from Latin perspicuus (“clear”, “transparent”; “evident”); compare perspicacity and the French perspicuité.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, to look, to observe’
special, respect, specific, despite, species, aspect, scope, perspective, spy, inspector, spectrum, inspection, expectation, spectacular, speculation, suspicion, skeptical, spite, specify, specimen, spice, spectacle, inspect, retrospective, spectator, espionage, speculative, speculate, retrospect, conspicuous, expectant, skeptic, specter, macroscopic, endoscopic, spectroscopic, specious, espy, circumspect, speculator, 117 more
Today it means
noun Clarity, lucidity, especially in expression; the state or characteristic of being perspicuous.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “perspicuity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin perspicuus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- / perspicuity