Where does “ineffable” come from?
ineffable (French) comes from Middle French ineffable, from Latin ineffābilis, from Latin effabilis, from Latin -bilis, from Proto-Italic -ðlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom — Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...
ineffable (French): ineffable (unable to be expressed in words)
Definitions
- ineffable (unable to be expressed in words)
Ancestry of “ineffable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | ineffable | ineffable |
| 2 | Latin | ineffābilis | unutterable, unpronounceable |
| 3 | Latin | effabilis | utterable |
| 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;... |