Etymology

specious

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Today it means: Seemingly well-reasoned, plausible or true, but actually fallacious. Full definition →

Middle English speciose, specious ← Anglo-Norman specious ← Middle French specieux
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specious · adjective1

  1. Latin · derived fromspeciōsus“good-looking”
  2. Middle French · derived fromspecieux
  3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromspecious
  4. Middle English · inherited fromspeciose, specious
  5. English todayspecious

From Middle English speciose, specious, from Anglo-Norman specious, Middle French specieux, and their etymon Latin speciōsus (“good-looking”).

specious · adjective2

  1. Englishspeci(es)
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  4. English todayspecious

From speci(es) + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.