Where does “unavoidable” come from?
Unavoidable comes from Middle English unavoidable, formed from the prefix un- and the adjective avoidable, meaning capable of being avoided.
unavoidable (English): Impossible to avoid; bound to happen; Not...
Definitions
- Impossible to avoid; bound to happen; Not...
Ancestry of “unavoidable”, step by step
unavoidable traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English avoidable
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | avoidable | Capable of being vacated; liable to be annulled... |
| 2 | English | -able | An adjectival suffix; forms adjectives meaning |
| 3 | Middle English | -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 |
via Middle English unavoidable
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | unavoidable | — |