Where does “impressionable” come from?
Impressionable comes from French impressionnable, formed with the French suffix -able (from Middle French -able, Old French -able, Latin -abilis) attached to a root ultimately deriving from Latin -i-.
impressionable (English): Being easily influenced; An impressionable person
Definitions
- Being easily influenced; An impressionable person
Ancestry of “impressionable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | impressionnable | sensitive; impressionable |
| 2 | French | impressionner | to impress, wow or overawe |
| 3 | French | impression | an impression, the overall effect of something;... |
| 4 | Latin | impressio | push, thrust, assault, onslaught; squashing;... |
| 5 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 6 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 7 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 8 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 9 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 10 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 11 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |