Clemens saw the statue, a seminude, for which the young wife had posed, and was struck by its evident merit.
Frank's eyes ranged over the sweating, seminude, powerful figures as they worked.
1530s, a legal term, "unsupported, not formally attested," from Latin nudus "naked, bare, unclothed, stripped" (see naked). General sense of "mere, plain, simple" attested from 1550s. In reference to the human body, meaning "unclothed," it is an artistic euphemism for naked, dating from 1610s (implied in nudity) but not in common use in this sense until mid-19c.
"nude figure in visual art," 1708, from French nud, obsolete variant of nu "naked, nude, bare," from Latin nudus (see nude (adj.)).