/praɪd/·noun·late 9th century Old English (prȳde / prȳte); noun form predates the verb; Middle English pryde attested by c. 1100·Established
Origin
From Latin 'prōde' (useful, advantageous) via Old French 'prud' (brave, capable), 'pride' was formed as a back-formation from 'proud' in Old English — noun from adjective — absorbing first medieval theology's deadliest sin, then slowly rehabilitating into self-respect, dignity, and finally collective liberation.
Definition
A feeling of deep satisfaction and self-respect derived from one's achievements, qualities, or the accomplishments of those with whom one is closely associated.
The Full Story
Old English / Old Frenchlate 9th–11th centurywell-attested
TheEnglishnoun 'pride' descends from Old English prȳde and prȳte (also Kentish prede, Mercian pride), attested from the late 9th century onward, themselves derived from the Old English adjective prūd ('excellent, splendid; arrogant, haughty'). The adjective entered Old English from Old French prud (oblique form: prouz, 'brave, valiant'), which is attested in Old French from the 11th century. Old French prud derived from LateLatin prode ('advantageous, profitable'), itself a back
Did you know?
The noun 'pride' came after the adjective 'proud' — Englishspeakerscoined the noun by stripping the adjective, which is the reverse of how abstract nouns usually work. More striking: 'proud' originally meant brave andcapable in Old French military culture, a compliment imported by the Normans. It was English theologians whoturned
who styled themselves 'proud'. In earliest English use, the word consistently carried the pejorative sense of inordinate self-regard, unreasonable conceit, and arrogant superiority. Within Christian moral theology it became the primary English rendering of Latin superbia, the foremost of the seven deadly sins as codified by Pope Gregory I around 590 CE in his Moralia in Job. Capitalized 'Pride' in this moralistic sense was common through the medieval period. By the 14th century, Middle English also admitted positive uses: 'proper pride, personal honor, good repute; splendor; prowess or spirit in an animal'. The verbal form priden (reflexive) is attested from the mid-12th century. The positive-self-regard sense consolidated further in Early Modern English. A pride of lions is first attested in the late 15th century. From 1969–1970 onward, following the Stonewall riots, 'pride' acquired its modern association with LGBTQ+ identity and dignity. PIE *per- also underlies prowess (via Old French proece), prude (via French prud'homme), and a vast array of English words containing per-, pro-, fore-, and far- including: perfect, perform, permit, pervade, paramount, pardon, paradise, first, for, and forth. Key scholarly sources: OED pride n.¹; Etymonline s.v. pride, proud; Merriam-Webster Word History on pride. Key roots: *per- (Proto-Indo-European: "forward, in front of, before, first, chief — the directional root underlying Latin pro- and a vast range of Indo-European derivatives"), prodesse (Latin: "to be useful, to benefit (compound of pro- 'for/before' + esse 'to be')"), prūd / prouz (Old French: "brave, valiant, excellent — the immediate donor form that entered late Old English").