decent
/ˈdiːsənt/adjective
Respectable, suitable, or good enough
From Latin dec- (Fitting).
Lineage
The story
At first, calling someone decent was less a compliment than a judgment about whether they knew their place: the word arrived in English in the 1530s meaning proper to one’s station or rank. It came through French décent from Latin decēns, related to decēre, “to be fitting”—and its ancient kin include Greek words for accepting and seeming. The word loosened its stiff collar over time: “good enough” is recorded by 1711, while “kind, pleasant” appears by 1902. Then, in 1949, backstage theater people turned “Are you decent?” into a discreet question about whether someone was dressed. The same word can still mean morally proper, merely okay, or—depending on the speaker—pretty great.
Words from the same roots
dec- · Latin, ‘Fitting, seemly, or proper’
Deriveddecorous, indecent, decency, decoration, decorate
Sources
- Etymonlinedecent, right, minnesinger, indecent, satisfactory
- Urban Dictionarydecent
- Wiktionarydecent