audace
/o.das/
noun
Origin
Latin
audacia — boldness, daring
Overview
Meaning Now
- The quality of being bold, daring, or courageous.
- Willingness to take risks or to act in a way that is challenging, sometimes to the point of insolence.
Language path
Latin → Old French → French
Earliest form
audace
Earliest period
12th century
Journey
The word originates from the Latin 'audax', which reflects a capacity for daring. Throughout its evolution, it maintained a dual sense: positive (courage, enterprise) and negative (recklessness, insolence), reflecting the ancient Roman ambivalence toward social disruption.
Evolution
- Classical Latin
audacia
“boldness, daring, courage”
Derived from audere.
- Late Latin
audacia
“boldness or audacity”
- Old French
audace
“boldness, daring”
Spelling stabilized as audace.
- Modern French
audace
“daring, boldness, audacity”
Connections
Word parts
audac-
root
bold, daring
-e
ending
feminine noun suffix derived from -ia
Related across languages
English
boldness
Italian
audacia
boldness
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Related to audace
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.