Where does “vulnerable” come from?
Vulnerable comes from Late Latin vulnerabilis, from Latin vulnus meaning "wound" plus the Latin suffix -bilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis and -dʰlom.
vulnerable (English): More or most likely to be exposed to the chance...
Definitions
- More or most likely to be exposed to the chance...
Ancestry of “vulnerable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | vulnerābilis | injurious, wounding, vulnerable |
| 2 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |