candor

See also: candôr

English

WOTD – 12 March 2008

Alternative forms

• candour (UK, Canada)

Etymology

From Latin candor (“brightness, whiteness”), from candeō (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.dɚ/, [ˈkɛən.dɚ]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkæn.də(ɹ)/, [ˈkɛːn.də(ɹ)]

  • Audio (Queensland, æ-raising):

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈkɛn.də(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ændə(ɹ)

Noun

candor (usually uncountable, plural candors) (American spelling)

1. The state of being sincere and open in speech; honesty in expression. [from c. 1600]

   Synonyms: frankness, honesty, sincerity, parrhesia

   Antonyms: deception, fraud, lie

2. Impartiality.

   Synonyms: equity, fairness

3. (obsolete) Whiteness; brilliance; purity. [c. 1500–?]
   • 1648, Robert Herrick, Hesperides, "To his Booke":

     Whilst thou didst keep thy Candor undefil'd,
     Deerly I lov'd thee; as my first-born child […]

Usage notes

• The second sense can be used as the abstract noun equivalent of candid, i.e. “the state of being candid”.

Derived terms

• candorless
• uncandor

Related terms

• candid
• candle

Translations

sincere and open in speech, honesty in expression

• Bulgarian: искреност (bg) f (iskrenost), честност (bg) f (čestnost), откровеност (bg) f (otkrovenost)
• Catalan: candor m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 坦率 (zh) (tǎnshuài), 直率 (zh) (zhíshuài)

• Czech: upřímnost (cs) f
• Dutch: openheid (nl), openhartigheid (nl), eerlijkheid (nl), oprechtheid (nl), onbevangenheid (nl)
• Esperanto: sincereco
• Finnish: vilpittömyys (fi), suoruus (fi)
• French: candeur (fr) f
• German: Aufrichtigkeit (de) f, Freimut (de) m, Redlichkeit (de) f, Ehrlichkeit (de) f, Offenheit (de) f, Freimütigkeit (de) f, Offenherzigkeit f
• Greek: ειλικρίνεια (el) f (eilikríneia), ευθύτητα (el) f (efthýtita)
• Hungarian: nyíltság (hu), őszinteség (hu)
• Japanese: 率直 (ja) (sotchoku), 正直 (ja) (shōjiki)
• Latin: candor m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oppriktighet (no) m or f, frimodighet m or f, åpenhjertighet m or f, åpenhet (no) m or f

• Persian: خلوص (fa) (xolus)
• Polish: szczerość (pl) f, otwartość (pl) f, uczciwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: franqueza (pt) f
• Russian: прямота́ (ru) f (prjamotá), че́стность (ru) f (čéstnostʹ)
• Spanish: candor (es) m
• Turkish: içtenlik (tr)

impartiality

• Bulgarian: безпристрастност f (bezpristrastnost)
• Czech: nestrannost f, bezpředsudkovost f
• Dutch: openheid (nl), onpartijdigheid (nl),
• German: Offenheit (de) f, Unparteilichkeit f, Neutralität (de) f
• Greek: αμεροληψία (el) f (amerolipsía)
• Hungarian: elfogulatlanság (hu)
• Japanese: 公平無私 (ja) (kouhei mushi)
• Polish: bezstronność (pl) f
• Russian: беспристрастность (ru) f (bespristrastnostʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} terus terang (id), ^{(please verify)} jujur (id), ^{(please verify)} tulus (id), ^{(please verify)} tulus hati

Anagrams

• Cardon, Conard, Condra, Conrad, Dacron, ancrod, cardon, dacron

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin candōrem. First attested in 1839.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kənˈdo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kanˈdoɾ]

Noun

candor m or f (plural candors)

1. candor

Related terms

• càndid

Further reading

• “candor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “candor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “candor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “candor”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kend-der.

Proto-Italic *kandēō

Latin candeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin candor

From candeō (“to shine, glitter; glow”) + -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkan.dɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkan.dor]

Noun

candor m (genitive candōris); third declension

1. a dazzling or glossy whiteness; clearness, radiance, brightness
2. fairness, beauty
3. glow, heat
4. (of speech) splendor, brilliance
5. (of mind or character) frankness, openness, candor, purity

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	candor	candōrēs
genitive	candōris	candōrum
dative	candōrī	candōribus
accusative	candōrem	candōrēs
ablative	candōre	candōribus
vocative	candor	candōrēs

Related terms

• candefaciō
• candēla
• candēlābrārius
• candēlābrum
• candēns
• candentia
• candeō
• candescō
• candicō
• candidus
• candificō

Descendants

• Catalan: candor
• English: candor, candour
• French: candeur
• Italian: candore
• Portuguese: candor
• Romanian: candoare
• Spanish: candor

References

• “candor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “candor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "candor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “candor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin candor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kanˈdoɾ/ [kãn̪ˈd̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: can‧dor

Noun

candor m (plural candores)

1. candor

Derived terms

• candoroso

Related terms

• cándido

Further reading

• “candor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025