The word 'respect' entered English around 1340 from Old French 'respect,' from Latin 'respectus' (a looking back at, a regard, consideration), the past participle noun of 'respicere' (to look back at, to look again at, to have regard for). The Latin verb is composed of 're-' (back, again) and 'specere' (to look at, to observe), from the Proto-Indo-European root *speḱ- (to observe).
The etymology reveals a beautiful semantic progression. The literal meaning — to look back at someone — implies giving them a second glance, pausing rather than passing by. This deliberate act of renewed attention became, by metaphorical extension, an expression of esteem: the person you look back at is the person you consider worthy of notice. From this grew the full modern meaning of deference
In English, 'respect' has always carried multiple senses that coexist somewhat uneasily. The oldest sense, closest to the Latin, is simply 'regard' or 'reference' — a looking at something in a particular way. This survives in the phrases 'with respect to' (regarding, concerning) and 'in this respect' (from this point of view). The mathematical phrase 'differentiate with respect to x' uses 'respect' in this original, neutral sense, without any implication
The dominant modern sense — esteem, deference, honour — developed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Shakespeare used both senses freely. In 'Hamlet,' 'the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of th'unworthy takes' describes a world where respect (in the sense of proper regard) has broken down. The moral weight of the word — the idea that respect is something owed and that its absence constitutes an injury — has deep roots in English
The phrase 'to pay one's respects' (to visit someone as a mark of courtesy, especially the bereaved) treats respect as a kind of social debt. One 'pays' respects as one pays a debt — fulfilling an obligation of regard. The plural form 'respects' in this phrase suggests multiple individual acts of deference, each one a separate 'looking back at.'
Aretha Franklin's 1967 recording of 'Respect' (written by Otis Redding) transformed the word into an anthem of the American civil rights and feminist movements. The song's demand — 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me' — crystallized the idea that respect is not merely a pleasant social courtesy but a fundamental human right, the denial of which constitutes a form of oppression. Few English words have been so powerfully reclaimed by a single cultural moment.
In philosophy, respect occupies a central place in Immanuel Kant's moral theory. Kant distinguished between 'respect for persons' (Achtung) — the recognition of every rational being as an end in themselves, never merely a means — and other forms of positive regard like affection or admiration. Kantian respect is not an emotion but a rational recognition of moral worth. This philosophical sense has profoundly influenced modern human rights discourse
The word 'respective' (each to their own, in the order mentioned) preserves the Latin sense of 'looking back at' each individual item in turn. 'Respectable' (worthy of respect) and 'respectful' (showing respect) divide the concept into two complementary perspectives: the one who deserves the look and the one who gives it.
The negative form 'disrespect,' historically a noun ('to show disrespect'), has been verbed in modern informal English, particularly in African American Vernacular English: 'Don't disrespect me.' The shortened form 'diss' (or 'dis'), which emerged in the 1980s, has become standard informal English worldwide. This productive evolution — from a fourteen-syllable Latin compound to a monosyllabic slang verb — demonstrates the relentless efficiency of English colloquial speech.