Where does “visible” come from?
Visible comes from Middle English visible, from Old French visible, from Latin visibilis meaning "able to be seen," derived from the verb videre meaning "to see," formed with the suffix -io, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root weyd- meaning "to see."
visible (English): Able to be seen
Definitions
- Able to be seen
Ancestry of “visible”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | visible | — |
| 2 | Old French | visible | visible (able to be seen) |
| 3 | Latin | vīsibilis | that may be seen, visible |
| 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;... |