Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “inflexibility” come from?

Inflexibility comes from French inflexibilité, derived from Latin inflexibilis, composed of the prefix in- (not) and flexibilis (capable of bending), with -ibilis ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -tós (adjective-forming suffix) and ne (not).

inflexibility (English): The quality or state of being inflexible, or not...

Definitions

  1. The quality or state of being inflexible, or not...

Ancestry of “inflexibility”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchinflexibilitéinflexibility
2French-itéAlternative form of -té, giving a quality or...
3Latin-īta—
4Ancient Greek-ίτηςSuffix forming a masculine noun: one connected...
5Ancient Greekπολῑ́τηςcitizen
6Ancient Greek-τηςForms nouns representing a state of being; Added...
7Proto-Hellenic-tāts—
8Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
9Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
10Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →