Sinceʹre (2 syl.)
properly means without wax (sine cera). The allusion is to the Roman practice of concealing flaws in pottery with wax, or to honey from which all the wax has been extracted. (See Trench: On the Study of Words, lect. vii. p. 322.)
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Entry taken from
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.