From Latin 'evidens' (visible) — 'ex-' (out) + 'videre' (to see). Something so visible it stands out plainly.
Definition
Plain or obvious; clearly seen or understood.
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Latin14th centurywell-attested
From Latin 'ēvidēns' (obvious, apparent, clear), the present participle of 'ēvidēre' (to see clearly, to be visible), composed of 'ē-/ex-' (out, thoroughly) + 'vidēre' (to see). The literal sense is 'seeing out' — something that is evident stands out visually, is plain to behold without effort. The PIE root is *weyd- (to see, to know), one of the most prolific
Did you know?
Thomas Jefferson's immortal phrase 'We hold these truths to be self-evident' rests on the Latin metaphor of sight — truths that 'see themselves out,' requiring no external proof to be visible. The draft originally read 'sacred and undeniable,' but Benjamin Franklin suggested the more Enlightenment-flavored 'self-evident.'
Latin: 'video,' 'vision,' 'visit,' 'advise,' 'provide,' 'supervise,' 'revise,' 'envy' (Latin 'invidia,' literally 'looking upon' with ill will), and 'evidence' itself. The word entered Middle English via Old French in the fourteenth century. Key roots: ē-/ex- (Latin: "out, out of"), vidēre (Latin: "to see"), *weyd- (Proto-Indo-European: "to see, to know").