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Origin and history of gracious

gracious(adj.)

c. 1300, "filled with God's grace," from Old French gracios "courteous, pleasing, kind, friendly" (12c., Modern French gracieux), from Latin gratiosus "enjoying favor, agreeable, obliging; popular, acceptable," from gratia "favor" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gwere- (2) "to favor"). Meaning "merciful, benevolent" is from late 14c. As an exclamation, elliptically for gracious God, attested from 1713.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to gracious

graciously(adv.)

c. 1300, "by God's grace," from gracious + -ly (2). Meaning "favorably, with good will" is late 14c.

graciousness(n.)

late 14c., "attractiveness, agreeable quality," early 15c., from gracious + -ness. From 1630s as "courtesy, politeness."

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courteous
c. 1300, curteis, "having elegant manners, well-bred, polite, urbane," also "gracious, benevolent," from Old French curteis (Modern French courtois) "having courtly bearing or manners," from curt "court" (see court (n.)) + -eis, from Latin -ensis. Rare before c. 1500. In feudal s
nice
late 13c., "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (from PIE root *ne- "not") + stem of scire "to
complaisant
1640s, "civil and gracious, desiring to please;" 1670s, "disposed to comply with another's wishes;" from French complaisant..."pleasing, obliging, gracious" (16c.), present participle of complaire "acquiesce to please," from Latin complacere "be...
benign
"of a kind disposition; gracious; kind; benignant; favorable," early 14c., from Old French benigne "kind, benign, merciful..., gracious" (12c., Modern French bénin, fem. bénigne), from Latin benignus "kindly, kindhearted, friendly, generous," literally...
propitious
propicious, "inclined to grant favor, disposed to pardon or forgive," from Anglo-French propicius, Old French propicius "gracious..., favorable, useful" (12c., Modern French propice) and directly from Latin propitius "favorable, kind, gracious, well-disposed...
Siva
of Hinduism, lord of destruction and reproduction, 1788, from Hindi Shiva, from Sanskrit Sivah, literally "propitious, gracious...
pleasant
acceptable to God;" also "agreeable, desirable; delightful, delicious; satisfying to the mind or senses;" of persons, "charming, gracious...
quintessence
early 15c., quint-essence, in ancient philosophy and medieval alchemy, "a pure essence latent in all things, and the substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," literally "fifth essence," from Old French quinte essence (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin quinta esse
personality
late 14c., personalite, "quality or fact of being a person," from Old French personalité and directly from Medieval Latin personalitatem (nominative personalitas), from Late Latin personalis (see personal). Sense of "a distinctive essential character of a self-conscious being" is
stride
Middle English striden, from Old English stridan (past tense strad, past participle striden), "to straddle, mount" (a horse), from Proto-Germanic *stridanan (source also of Middle Low German strede "stride, strive;" Old Saxon stridian, Danish stride, Swedish strida "to fight," Du

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