Dignity
Inherent or earned respect — the oldest human argument.
How We Say It
dig·ni·tee
Where It Comes From
Latin dignitas — worth, merit, prestige. From dignus — worthy. In Roman use, dignity was earned through rank and conduct — it was a social status, not an inherent quality. The idea of inherent human dignity came much later.
How It's Been Used
Human dignity as an inherent, inalienable quality entered Western legal thinking through Enlightenment philosophy and was enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Still contested — whether dignity is something you have or something that must be accorded.