integrity Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting
    unity; wholeness.
    • the integrity of the nervous system is required for normal development
    • he took measures to insure the territorial unity of Croatia
  2. noun moral soundness
    • he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business
    • they admired his scrupulous professional integrity

WordNet

In*teg"ri*ty noun
Etymology
L. integritas: cf. F. intégrité. See Integer, and cf. Entirety.
Definitions
  1. The state or quality of being entire or complete; wholeness; entireness; unbroken state; as, the integrity of an empire or territory. Sir T. More.
  2. Moral soundness; honesty; freedom from corrupting influence or motive; -- used especially with reference to the fulfillment of contracts, the discharge of agencies, trusts, and the like; uprightness; rectitude.
    The moral grandeur of independent integrity is the sublimest thing in nature. Buckminster.
    Their sober zeal, integrity. and worth. Cowper.
  3. Unimpaired, unadulterated, or genuine state; entire correspondence with an original condition; purity.
    Language continued long in its purity and integrity. Sir M. Hale.
    Syn. -- Honesty; uprightness; rectitude. See Probity.

Webster 1913