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ingenuous

 - 3 dictionary results

in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous

  [in-jen-yoo-uhs]
Use ingenuous in a Sentence
–adjective
1. free from reserve, restraint, or dissimulation; candid; sincere.
2. artless; innocent; naive.
3. Obsolete. honorable or noble.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L ingenuus native, free-born, honorable, frank, equiv. to in- in- 2 + gen- (base of gignere; see ingenious ) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix; see -ous

Related forms:
in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
in⋅gen⋅u⋅ous⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. frank, straightforward, open. 2. guileless.

Usage note:
See ingenious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ingenuous
in·gen·u·ous   (ĭn-jěn'yōō-əs)   
adj.  

  1. Lacking in cunning, guile, or worldliness; artless.

  2. Openly straightforward or frank; candid. See Synonyms at naive.

  3. Obsolete Ingenious.


[Latin ingenuus, honest, freeborn; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]
in·gen'u·ous·ly adv., in·gen'u·ous·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ingenuous 
1598, from L. ingenuus "with the virtues of freeborn people, of noble character, frank," originally "native, freeborn," from in- "in" + gen-, root of gignere "beget, produce" (see genus). Sense of "artless, innocent" is 1673, from notion of "honorably straightforward."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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