Where does “inexplicable” come from?
inexplicable (Middle English) comes from Middle French inexplicable, from Latin inexplicabilis, from Latin explicabilis, from Latin -bilis, from Proto-Italic -ðlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom — Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...
Ancestry of “inexplicable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | inexplicable | — |
| 2 | Latin | inexplicabilis | inexplicable |
| 3 | Latin | explicabilis | that may be explained, explicable, explainable |
| 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;... |