Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “horrible” come from?

horrible (Middle English) comes from Old French horrible, from Latin horribilis, from Latin -bilis, from Proto-Italic -ðlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom — Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...

horrible (Middle English): horrible

Definitions

  1. horrible

Ancestry of “horrible”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchhorrible—
2Latinhorribilishorrible, terrible, dreadful, fearful
3Latin-bilis-ble
4Proto-Italic-ðlis—
5Proto-Indo-European-dʰlis—
6Proto-Indo-European-dʰlomAlternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom →