Etymology

dainty

D2A1I1N1T1Y4

Today it means: Elegant; delicately small and pretty. Full definition →

Middle English deynte ← Old French deintié ← Latin dignitātem
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromdignitātem
  2. Old French · derived fromdeintié
  3. Middle English · inherited fromdeynte
  4. English todaydainty

From Middle English deynte (as noun), from Old French deintié, from Latin dignitātem. Doublet of dignity.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchdeintié all →

daintith

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.