Where does “tolerable” come from?
Tolerable comes from Middle French tolerable, derived from Latin tolerabilis, meaning "able to be endured."
tolerable (English): Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured;...
Definitions
- Capable of being borne, tolerated or endured;...
Ancestry of “tolerable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tolerable | — |
| 2 | Middle French | tolerable | — |
| 3 | Latin | tolerabilis | bearable, supportable, endurable, passable,... |
| 4 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |