decency

decency

English

Etymology

From Latin decentia, from decens. Compare French décence. See decent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdiːsənsi/

  • Audio (UK)

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Noun

decency (countable and uncountable, plural decencies)

1. The quality of being decent; propriety.
   • 1684, Wentworth Dillon, An Essay on Translated Verse:

     Immodest words admit of no defence, / For want of decency is want of sense.

   • 1757 (date written), [Edmund Burke], “Introduction. On Taste.”, in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, 2nd edition, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, OCLC 1102744348, part, page 30:

     Indeed it is for the moſt part in our ſkill in manners, and in the obſervances of time and place, and of decency in general, which is only to be learned in thoſe ſchools to which Horace recommends us, that what is called Taſte by way of diſtinction, conſiſts; and which is in reality no other than a more refined judgment.

   • 1954 Joseph N. Welch, June

     Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

   • 2016, Tim Carvell; Josh Gondelman; Dan Gurewitch; Jeff Maurer; Ben Silva; Will Tracy; Jill Twiss; Seena Vali; Julie Weiner, “Journalism”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 20, HBO, Warner Bros. Television:

     Now, what is interesting about that poem is nothing. But, what is relevant about it is that his muse is his wife, Marcela, who is 42 years younger than him. He is 75, she is 33. And I’ll say this, at least when 70-something American politicians get creepily handsy with 30-something women, they have the decency to do so with their own daughters. Have some class, Brazil! Have some class!

2. That which is proper or becoming.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Those thousand decencies, that daily flow / From all her words and actions.

   • 1706 October 9 (Gregorian calendar)​, Francis Atterbury, “A Sermon Preach’d in the Guild-Hall Chapel, London, Sept. 28. 1706. Being the Day of the Election of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.”, in Fourteen Sermons Preach’d on Several Occasions. […], London: […] E. P. [Edmund Parker?] for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1708, OCLC 1015443083, page 413:

     'Tis in the Civil Government, as in the Offices of Religion; which, were they ſtript of all the External Decencies of Worſhip, would not make a due Impreſſion on the Minds of thoſe who aſſiſt at them.

Derived terms

• closet of decency

Translations

quality of being decent

Arabic: احْتِرَام‎ (ar), كَرَامَة‎ (ar) (karāma) Bulgarian: благоприличие (bg) (blagopriličie) Catalan: decència (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 體統／体统 (zh) (tǐtǒng), 規矩／规矩 (zh) (guījǔ), 體面／体面 (zh) (tǐmiàn), 得體／得体 (zh) (détǐ), 正派 (zh) (zhèngpài), 端莊／端庄 (zh) (duānzhuāng), 正直 (zh) (zhèngzhí) Czech: slušnost (cs) f Dutch: fatsoen (nl) n Finnish: säädyllisyys (fi), soveliaisuus (fi) French: décence (fr) Galician: decencia f German: Anstand (de) m Greek: αιδώς (el) f (aidós) Hebrew: הגינות‎ f (haginut) Hungarian: illemtudás, illendőség (hu) Malayalam: മാന്യത (ml) (mānyata) Portuguese: decência (pt) f Romanian: cuviință (ro), cădere (ro), decență (ro) Russian: поря́дочность (ru) f (porjádočnostʹ), прили́чие (ru) n (prilíčije) Spanish: decencia (es) f Swedish: anständighet (sv) c Ukrainian: поря́дність f (porjádnistʹ)

that which is proper

Chinese: Mandarin: 體統／体统 (zh) (tǐtǒng), 規矩／规矩 (zh) (guījǔ), 體面／体面 (zh) (tǐmiàn), 得體／得体 (zh) (détǐ), 正派 (zh) (zhèngpài), 端莊／端庄 (zh) (duānzhuāng), 正直 (zh) (zhèngzhí) Finnish: sopivaisuus (fi) Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• decency on Wikipedia.Wikipedia