Etymograph

English

sincere

Sincere comes from Latin sincerus ‘genuine’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsincerus1‘genuine’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sincere1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1837sincere1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sincere
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, London: Chapman and Hall: “Tumid blustering, with more or less of sincerity, which…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsincerusWiktionary, English sincere‘genuine’
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sincereWiktionary, English sincere
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1837sincereWiktionary, English sincere. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, London: Chapman and Hall: “Tumid blustering, with more or less of sincerity, which…”

A compound of *sem- ‘together’ + *ḱer- ‘grow’

Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘together’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- ‘grow’

The story

Not from sine (‘without’) + cera (‘wax’), which is a folk etymology; see Wikipedia page.folk etymology The source marks this as unproven or a folk etymology. Quoted, not asserted.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

adj Genuine, honest, and free from pretense or deceit; heartfelt.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sincere”. 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 sincerus / sincere