Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “possible” come from?

possible (Middle English) comes from Old French possible, from Latin possibilis, 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 “possible”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchpossible—
2Latinpossibilispossible, that may exist, that may be done
3Latin-bilis-ble
4Proto-Italic-ðlis—
5Proto-Indo-European-dʰlis—
6Proto-Indo-European-dʰlomAlternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...

Words derived from “possible”

  • possible
  • possibly
  • compossible
  • incompossible
  • possibilist
  • compossibly
  • counterpossible
  • possibleness
  • neposibla
  • posibla
  • posible
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom →