Etymograph

English

pride

Pride comes from Middle English pryde ‘arrogance, self-aggrandisement’, from Old English prūd ‘proud’, and ultimately from Old French prod.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prod1
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150prūd2‘proud’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150prȳde3
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pryde3‘arrogance’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590pride3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English prud
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English pryde
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English pride
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “lofty trees yclad with summer's pride”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400prodWiktionary, Old English prud
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150prūdWiktionary, Old English pryde‘proud’
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150prȳdeWiktionary, English pride
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prydeWiktionary, English pride‘arrogance’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590prideWiktionary, English pride. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, (please specify the book): “lofty trees yclad with summer's pride”

Linked words

through Latin sum ‘to be’

future, present, essential, presence, absence, entity, absent, 13 more

through Latin prosum ‘to be useful or of use, do good, help,…’

improve, approve, prowess, prude, prow, 1 more

through Old English prūd ‘proud’

proud, 1 more

Another origin of pride

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500lampreda‘lamprey’
  2. Middle Low Germanc. 1200–1600lampride
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pryde‘Petromyzon branchialis or a similar lamprey’
  4. Englishtodaypride

Today it means

noun A sense of one's own worth; reasonable self-esteem and satisfaction (in oneself, in one's work, one's family, etc).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pride”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English prud, Old English pryde. 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 / Old French prod / pride

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