derisible

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wert-
2. Latin · derived from*dērīsibilis
3. English todayderisible

From Latin *dērīsibilis (compare Italian derisibile, “deridable”), from dērīsus + -ibilis (whence English -ible), a variant of -bilis (adjective-forming suffix that denotes the capacity or worth of being acted upon). Dērīsus is the perfect passive participle of dērīdeō (“to laugh at, make fun of, mock, deride”), from dē- (intensifying prefix) + rīdeō (“to laugh; to laugh at, mock, ridicule”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (originally “to rotate or turn”, then specifically “to turn the lips [for a smile]”), root also of English worth, weird and -ward(s).

Words from the same roots