Where does “inexpedient” come from?
Inexpedient derives from Middle English in-, Latin in-, Latin in, and Proto-Indo-European ne, combined with Latin -io and Latin ex, ultimately expressing the sense of not suitable or appropriate for a particular purpose.
inexpedient (English): Not expedient; not tending to promote a purpose;...
Definitions
- Not expedient; not tending to promote a purpose;...
Ancestry of “inexpedient”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | expedient | Suitable to effect some desired end or the... |
| 2 | Middle English | expedient | — |
| 3 | Old French | expedient | — |
| 4 | Latin | expediens | expediting |
| 5 | Latin | expedio | I free feet from snares; unfasten fetters; lose... |
| 6 | Latin | pēs | a foot, in its senses as |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |