Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “irresistibly” come from?

Irresistibly derives from English irresistible, formed in English from the prefix in- (from Latin in-, from Proto-Indo-European ne-, meaning "not") combined with resistible, which comes from Latin resistibilis based on the verb resistere (re- plus sistere, from Proto-Indo-European oyd-, meaning "to stand").

irresistibly (English): In an irresistible manner

Definitions

  1. In an irresistible manner

Ancestry of “irresistibly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishirresistibleImpossile to resist; Compellingly attractive
2Latinirresistibilis—
3LatinresistoI stand back, remain standing somewhere; stand...
4Latinrĕ-—
5Latinprōdūcō—
6Latinprō-—
7Proto-Italic*pro-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
10Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →