Where does “horrible” come from?
Horrible comes from Old French orible, derived from Latin horribilis, formed with the Latin suffix -ibilis added to horreo, which traces through Proto-Italic horzēō and Proto-Indo-European ǵʰr̥s-éh₁-(ye)-ti back to the root ǵʰers-.
horrible (English): A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing,...
Definitions
- A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing,...
Ancestry of “horrible”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | horrible | horrible |
| 2 | Old French | horrible | — |
| 3 | Latin | horribilis | horrible, terrible, dreadful, fearful |
| 4 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |