Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “navigable” come from?

Navigable comes from Middle French navigable, derived from Latin navigabilis, meaning capable of being navigated or sailed upon.

navigable (English): Capable of being navigated; deep enough and wide...

Definitions

  1. Capable of being navigated; deep enough and wide...

Ancestry of “navigable”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchnavigable—
2Latinnavigabilis—
3Latinnāvigō—
4Latinnāvis—
5Proto-Italicnaus—
6Germanhinausout
7Germanausout; over; finished; done; up; off
8Old High Germanūzout
9Proto-West Germanic*ūt—
10Proto-Germanicūtout, outward
11Proto-Indo-Europeanúdout, outward

Words derived from “navigable”

  • unnavigable
  • circumnavigable
  • navigableness
  • navigably
  • unnavigably
Every word from Proto-Indo-European úd →