How the Word Profanity Began Outside the Temple

Hello,

This week I finally finished watching “The History of Swearing” on Netflix. My family are neither Nicholas Cage nor etymology fans so I squeezed in episodes when they were in bed. It’s a short series with brief, well-edited episodes exploring a handful of popular curse-words with help from lexicographers and comedians. I knew most of them already thanks to a dictionary of invective I read years ago and seem to have since lost. One expert mentioned that profanity comes from the idea of something being outside the temple and that caught my interest.

There are three related words to investigate on this front. To profane (the verb, to desecrate something), profane (the adjective, something is unholy), and profanity (noun, foul or profane language or conduct). In recent times I suspect most of us would use the words with the idea of morally suspect or offensive language, but this one started firmly in the idea of being holy, or not and yes, it does all start outside the temple.

Chapel ceiling in Christchurch cathedral, Dublin

The first of the three to arrive in English is profane, the verb. It described treating holy things without reverence from the late 1300s and came via Old French profaner from Latain profanare and profanus (unholy or not consecrated). That’s pretty clear.

Next up is profane being used as an adjective and that arose in the mid 1400s (the exact same roots). The idea of person being profane encompassed the idea of them being not initiated, ignorant, wicked, and impious. I can only assume the idea was the you only want the clergy and those in religious orders to deal with sacred objects and rites. According to one source (Lewis & Short, de Vaan) profane acquired this use thanks to the phrase pro fano which translates as “out at the front of the temple” with the idea that religious trainees and the general public wouldn’t be allowed into the temple itself. I’m not certain this is the main root of the word, but it does have a certain logic in the preChristian era as some faiths would only allow the priesthood class to enter the temple or sacred space. This isn’t really the case in most Christian churches though now, or back in the 1300s.

By the 1550s profane had acquired the meaning of being irreverent towards God or hold objects. Then by around 1600 we finally get the word profanity arrived into English (same roots) and it gains the secondary meaning which is the main one today – foul language. This is thanks to the Old Testament part of the Bible which advises against profaning or taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Although profane and profanity are fairly old English words, and swearing is older still, it’s interesting to find that the word profanity was only rarely used before the 1800s. I guess it took the sometimes strict and judgemental Victorian era to label the terrible crime of swearing.

Until next time, happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace (@Wordfoolery)