Where does “untenable” come from?
Untenable comes from English un- plus tenable, from Latin tenēbilis (able to be held), derived from Latin tenēre (to hold), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European óynos.
untenable (English): Not able to be held, as of an opinion or...
Definitions
- Not able to be held, as of an opinion or...
Ancestry of “untenable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Un- | — |
| 2 | English | still | Not moving; calm; Not effervescing; not... |
| 3 | Old English | stillan | become calm, abate, subside; calm, pacify,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | stillijan | to make still, quiet |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -jan | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
Words derived from “untenable”