Etymology

preciosity

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Today it means: The quality of being overly refined in an affected way (often used to describe speech or writing, but also visual art and dress). Full definition →

Middle English preciosite ← Middle French preciosité ← Latin pretiōsitās
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompretiōsitās“great value; high price”
  2. Middle French · derived frompreciosité
  3. Middle English · inherited frompreciosite
  4. English todaypreciosity

From Middle English preciosite, from Middle French preciosité, from Latin pretiōsitās (“great value; high price”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.