Devout

How to spell devout

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce devout

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does devout mean?

1. adjectiveDeeply religious; earnestly committed to worship and faith.
2. adjectiveSincere, wholehearted, or earnest in feeling or support.

Devout in a sentence

• Her grandmother was a devout churchgoer who never missed a Sunday service.

• She remained a devout supporter of the local team through every losing season.

• The monastery welcomed devout visitors seeking quiet reflection.

• He offered his devout thanks to the volunteers who rebuilt the hall.

Where does devout come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin devotus, the past participle of devovere, meaning 'to vow' or 'to dedicate by a solemn promise', built from the intensive prefix de- and vovere, 'to vow'. In its earliest Latin use it described something or someone formally pledged or consecrated to a divine power. English took it in during the 1200s through Old French devot, and from the start it carried the religious sense of being wholly given over to God or to worship. The same vovere root still lives inside the closely related English words 'vow', 'vote', and 'devotion', which is a useful memory hook: a devout person is, quite literally, one bound by a vow. The slightly surprising spelling, ending in -out rather than the Latin -otus, reflects the French route the word travelled rather than a direct borrowing from Latin.

How the word is built

• de- (intensive, from Latin)
• vot (from vovere: to vow, promise)
• -ous, reduced to -out via Old French