APM: Sincerity

[Tim McDaniel]

As an aside, someone mentioned the etymology of "sincere" at the
meeting last night.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sincere#Etymology>
echoes the American Heritage Dictionary and other ones:

     The Oxford English Dictionary and most scholars state that
     sincerity from sincere is derived from the Latin sincerus meaning
     clean, pure, sound (152535). Sincerus may have once meant "one
     growth" (not mixed), from sin- (one) and crescere (to
     grow). Crescere derives from "Ceres," the goddess of grain, as in
     "cereal."[3][4]

and

     The Oxford English Dictionary states, however, that "There is no
     probability in the old explanation from sine cera 'without wax'".

I'm not trying to show off or slam anyone, but I'm interested in urban
legends and popular etymologies.

-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com