Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “profitability” come from?

Profitability derives from English profitable plus the suffix -ity, tracing through French -ité, Latin -itas and -abilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -it-.

profitability (English): The quality or state of being profitable;...

Definitions

  1. The quality or state of being profitable;...

Ancestry of “profitability”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishprofitableProducing a profit
2Old Frenchprofitableuseful; usable; that one can make use of
3Old Frenchableable; capable
4Latinhabilisable to have/possess/maintain; having sufficient...
5Latin-ilis-ile
6Proto-Italic-elis—
7Proto-Indo-European-elis—
8Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “profitability”

  • unprofitability
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →