From Latin 'honestus' (honorable), from 'honos' (honor) — originally 'held in honor,' shifting gradually to 'truthful and sincere.'
Free of deceit; truthful and sincere; morally correct or virtuous.
From Old French 'honeste, oneste' (honorable, decent, virtuous, of good reputation), from Latin 'honestus' (honorable, respected, of good character), from 'honōs' (also 'honor,' meaning honor, dignity, reputation, public office). The word originally meant 'held in honor' or 'respectable' in both Latin and early English — the semantic shift toward 'truthful, sincere, free from deceit' developed gradually in English during the 14th–16th centuries, eventually becoming the primary meaning. The ultimate origin of Latin 'honōs' is debated
In Shakespeare's time, 'honest' applied to a woman usually meant 'chaste' or 'sexually virtuous' rather than 'truthful.' When Othello demands proof of Desdemona's honesty, he is asking about her fidelity, not her truthfulness. This older sense survives in the phrase 'an honest woman' — originally