Where does “improvability” come from?
improvability (English) comes from English ability, from Middle English abilite, from Old French ableté, from Latin habilitās, from Latin habilis, from Latin -ilis, from Proto-Italic -elis, from Proto-Indo-European -elis — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
improvability (English): The condition of being improvable
Definitions
- The condition of being improvable
Ancestry of “improvability”, step by step
improvability traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English ability
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ability | Suitableness; The quality or state of being able;... |
| 2 | Middle English | abilite | suitability, aptitude, ability |
| 3 | Old French | ableté | — |
| 4 | Latin | habilitās | ability, aptitude, fitness |
| 5 | Latin | habilis | able to have/possess/maintain; having sufficient... |
| 6 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via English improve
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | improve | To make better; to increase the value or... |
| 2 | Latin | improbo | I disapprove; I blame, condemn, reject;... |
| 3 | Latin | probō | to approve, permit, commend |
| 4 | Latin | Probus | good, serviceable, excellent, superior, able |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | pro-bhwo- | being in front, prominent |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pro- | toward, forward |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | por- | to give birth; forward, through; going, passage |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |