ingenuous

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in·gen·u·ous / inˈjenyoōəs/ • adj. (of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting.DERIVATIVES: in·gen·u·ous·ly adv.in·gen·u·ous·ness n.ORIGIN: late 16th cent.: from Latin ingenuus, literally ‘native, inborn,’ from in- ‘into’ + an element related to gignere ‘beget.’ The original sense was ‘noble, generous,’ giving rise to ‘honorably straightforward, frank,’ hence ‘innocently frank’ (late 17th cent.).

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