Where does “passable” come from?
Passable comes from French passable, meaning able to be passed or traversed.
passable (English): That may be passed or traversed; Tolerable;...
Definitions
- That may be passed or traversed; Tolerable;...
Ancestry of “passable”, step by step
passable traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English pass
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pass | "To change place."; "To change in state or... |
| 2 | English | passé | Dated; out of style; old-fashioned; Past one's... |
| 3 | French | passé | past tense; past; last |
| 4 | French | passer | to go past; to cross; to pass |
| 5 | Middle French | passer | to pass; to go by |
| 6 | Old French | passer | to pass; to pass by |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | passare | to walk, pass; step, walk, pass; present active... |
| 8 | Latin | passus | spread out; dried; step |
| 9 | Latin | patior | I suffer, endure; I allow, acquiesce, permit,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₁- | to hate, hurt |
via French passable
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | passable | Passable; tolerable; fair |
| 2 | French | -able | able |
| 3 | Middle French | -able | able |
| 4 | Old French | -able | worthy of, deserving of; -ing, creating an... |
| 5 | Latin | -ābilis | suffixed to noun to form adjectives meaning "able to have or bring, prone to have or bring, having the power to have or bring": -able |