Etymograph

English

transparency

Transparency comes from Latin trānspārēns ‘transparent’, from trānspāreō ‘show through’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂séh₁yeti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂séh₁yeti1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāzējō1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāzēō1‘to appear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāreō1‘be seen’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānspāreō2‘show through’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānspārēns3‘transparent’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500trānspārentia4
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1810transparency4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin transpareo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin transparens
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin transparentia
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English transparency
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1810, Royal Collection Trust: “According to Bray (Life of Stothard, p. 50), the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂séh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin transpareoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāzējōWiktionary, Latin transpareoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāzēōWiktionary, Latin transpareo‘to appear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāreōWiktionary, Latin transpareo‘be seen’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānspāreōWiktionary, Latin transparens‘show through’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānspārēnsWiktionary, Latin transparentia‘transparent’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500trānspārentiaWiktionary, English transparency
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1810transparencyWiktionary, English transparency. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1810, Royal Collection Trust: “According to Bray (Life of Stothard, p. 50), the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *pāzēō ‘to appear’

appearance, 3 more

through Latin pāreō ‘be seen’

appear, apparition, 4 more

Today it means

noun The quality of being transparent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “transparency”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin transpareo, Latin transparens, Latin transparentia. 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 *peh₂séh₁yeti / transparency

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