hypocrisy

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromὑπόκρισις“answer, stage acting, pretense”
2. Late Latin · derived fromhypocrisis
3. Old French · derived fromypocrisie
4. Middle English · inherited fromipocrisie
5. English todayhypocrisy

From hypo- + Ancient Greek κρί(σις) (krí(sis)) + -isy. From Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis, “answer, stage acting, pretense”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I answer (a fellow actor on stage), play a part, dissemble, feign”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under, equivalent of the modern "hypo-" prefix”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”) + -isy. Displaced native Old English līċettung.

First known use, by meaning

• from early 13th c. The claim or pretense of having beliefs, standards, qualities, behaviours, virtues, motivations, etc. which one does not really have.