Where does “explainable” come from?
Explainable comes from English explain plus the Middle English suffix -able, derived from Old French -able (Latin -abilis), while explain traces to Latin ex- and Ancient Greek πλάνος.
explainable (English): Able to be explained or understood
Definitions
- Able to be explained or understood
Ancestry of “explainable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | explain | To make plain, manifest, or intelligible; to... |
| 2 | Middle English | explanen | — |
| 3 | Old French | explaner | — |
| 4 | Latin | explanō | to flatten or spread out |
| 5 | Latin | planō | — |
| 6 | Latin | plānus | level, flat, even |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πλάνος | wandering |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | πλανάω | to make to wander, lead wandering about; to lead... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pl-néh₂-ti | — |