Where it sits
The real Latin source is well established; the wax story is a later invention.
What it doesn't mean
There's no etymological basis for it. Etymonline notes the OED dismisses it out of hand and the Century Dictionary calls it 'untenable'. The real source is sincerus, 'whole, pure'.
Etymonline says the stories invented to justify the 'without wax' derivation are even less plausible than the derivation itself.
What it really means
Sincere has a charming origin story. In Latin, sine means "without" and cera means "wax". So, the story goes, sincere once meant sine cera, "without wax", and a sincere person, like a thing without wax, has nothing covered up.
It's neat, it's memorable, and the dictionaries don't accept it.
Why it's wrong. The word has a well-understood source, and wax isn't part of it. English sincere (first known use 1533, according to Merriam-Webster) came from French, which took it from Latin sincerus. In Latin it described things that were whole, clean, pure, unmixed, and figuratively people who were sound, genuine and candid. Etymonline says there is no etymological justification for "without wax", which the OED dismisses out of hand and the Century Dictionary calls "untenable". It adds that the stories invented to explain the wax are even less plausible than the derivation.
What's actually known. Merriam-Webster gives sincerus as probably from sem-, "one", plus -cerus, related to crescere, "to grow". The idea is "of one growth": not hybrid, not blended, pure. That's how a word for unmixed substances became a word for unmixed motives. Etymonline notes the details are debated, with another scholar proposing a lost Latin word for "whole, intact", but all the serious proposals point to wholeness and none to wax.
So the honest version of the story is less tidy: a sincere person is "unmixed", all of one piece.
Where it comes from
Latin — whole, clean, pure, unmixed; figuratively genuine, candid
probably 'one' + a root akin to crescere, to grow — 'of one growth' (M-W, Etymonline)
Merriam-Webster gives sincerus as probably from sem- 'one' plus -cerus, akin to crescere 'to grow'. The idea is 'unmixed, of one growth' — pure, not blended — which is where the sense of honesty comes from.
- Latin
Sincerus: of things, whole, clean, pure; figuratively sound, genuine, candid (Etymonline).
- 16th century
French sincere, from the Latin (Etymonline).
- 1533
The first known use of sincere in English, in Merriam-Webster's entry.
In real life
- Her apology was sincere — she didn't make excuses, she just said she was wrong.
- "Please accept my sincere thanks," the email ended, and for once it sounded like it meant it.
- The speaker told the 'without wax' story with great feeling, which was sincere, even if the etymology wasn't.
Questions
Q01Does sincere come from 'sine cera' (without wax)?
No. That's a folk etymology. The word comes, through French, from Latin sincerus, meaning whole, pure or genuine. Etymonline reports that the OED dismisses the wax story outright and the Century Dictionary calls it untenable.
Q02What does the Latin sincerus mean?
Of things: whole, clean, pure, unmixed. Figuratively: sound, genuine, candid. Merriam-Webster suggests it probably combines sem- 'one' with a root related to crescere 'to grow'; Etymonline, citing Watkins, glosses the original idea as 'of one growth', unmixed.
Q03Why is the 'without wax' story so popular?
Because the parts look right: Latin sine does mean 'without' and cera does mean 'wax'. The match is a coincidence of spelling, not a real history.
Sources
- sincere — Online Etymology Dictionary.
- sincere — Merriam-Webster (etymology and first known use).
- List of common false etymologies of English words — Wikipedia.