Where does “indescribably” come from?
Indescribably is an English adverb formed from indescribable, which combines the Latin prefix in- (not) with describe, ultimately deriving from Latin de and Proto-Indo-European oyd-.
indescribably (English): In an indescribable manner
Definitions
- In an indescribable manner
Ancestry of “indescribably”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | indescribable | Impossible, or very difficult to describe;... |
| 2 | English | describe | To represent in words; To represent by drawing;... |
| 3 | Middle English | descriven | — |
| 4 | Old French | descrivre | to describe |
| 5 | Latin | dēscrībō | to copy off or transcribe something from the original, write down, write out |
| 6 | Latin | dē- | of; from |
| 7 | Latin | dē | of; concerning; about |
| 8 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 9 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | posti | behind, after |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | after |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |