nudity
(ˈnjuːdɪtɪ)
[a. F. nudité (= It. nudita), or ad. L. nūditāt-em, f. nūd-us nude: see -ity.]
1. The condition or fact of being naked or nude; a nude or naked state. a. Of persons.
| 1611 Cotgr., Nudité, nuditie, nakednesse. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Nudity, bareness, nakedness, want of any thing, poverty. |
| 1807 tr. Goede's Trav. II. 106 Two elegant Cyprians..in all the fashionable nudity of French freedom. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. i. 24 To bend forward exposes the back to partial nudity. 1872 Shipley Gloss. Eccl. Terms 360 Picard, who..attempted to introduce nudity and other shameful practices. |
| fig. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. ii. xx, Many souls in their young nudity are tumbled out among incongruities. 1892 Athenæum 4 June 739/2 The whole, if indiscreet in nudity of soul, is at least admirable in art. |
b. Of things or places.
| c 1890 H. James Little Tour in France xxix, It may appear that I insist too much upon the nudity of the Proven{cced}al horizon... But it is an exquisite bareness. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 20 Mar. 4/3 In another [plate] the august nudity of Downing-street is made interesting. |
2. A nude figure,
esp. as represented in painting or sculpture.
| 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. 45 Divers Nudities, and Clad Figures. 1682 Shadwell Medal Bayes Epist., And a good Drawer, in that time, may observe enough to make a Nuditie of him. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 40, I think the church is of all places the least proper for nudities. 1758 H. Walpole Let. to Mann 14 Apr. (1846) III. 349 He had, besides, a fine collection of drawings after nudities. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. II. 5 Fat Graces and other plump nudities by Rubens. 1894 Athenæum 5 May 583/3 The charming nudity who forms the leading element..of this picture. |
† 3. pl. The privy parts when exposed.
Obs.| 1686 Burnet Trav. iii. 174, I was much scandalized to see Statues with nudities here. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 95 They took Men with their heels upward, and hurry'd them about in such an undecent manner, as to expose their Nudities. 1769 E. Bancroft Guiana 264 Pieces of India Salempores, with which they cover their nudities. |
| fig. 1742 Young Nt. Th. viii. 333 The man who shows his heart, Is hooted for his nudities, and scorn'd. |