Where does “intractable” come from?
Intractable comes from Middle English in- combined with Latin tractabilis (from trahere, "to pull or draw"), prefixed with Latin in- meaning "not."
intractable (English): Not tractable; not able to be managed,...
Definitions
- Not tractable; not able to be managed,...
Ancestry of “intractable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tractability | The state of being tractable or docile; docility;... |
| 2 | English | tractable | Capable of being easily led, taught, or managed;... |
| 3 | Latin | tractābilis | tractable |
| 4 | Latin | tractō | to tug, drag or haul |
| 5 | Latin | -tō | Forms here |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |