SINCERE originated in Latin - Sincerus or sin (meaning without) + cerus (meaning wax). It derived from the old pottery makers. Less conscientious potters would improve their profits by 'gluing' broken or defective pots together with melted wax containing a powder made from the pot so as to be undetectable to the eye. Truthful, honest, genuine potters would advertise their ware as SIN CERUS - without wax - it was a genuine article, not a con, there was no wax holding it together (as the broken ones, once heated, would fall apart as the wax melted) 78.105.209.180 13:05, 3 May 2010 (UTC)Gaynor78.105.209.180 13:05, 3 May 2010 (UTC)
- This is a popular folk etymology with no basis in fact. sincerus derives from the root of semel (“one”) + the root of crescere (“grow”). —Stephen 14:05, 3 May 2010 (UTC)
Hyphenation has to be wrong. It's based on syllables. Brett Alexander Hunter (talk) 20:41, 2 October 2021 (UTC)