Etymology

ineffable

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Today it means: Beyond expression in words; unspeakable. Full definition →

First used 1450Middle French ineffable ← Latin ineffābili ← Proto-Italic *fāōr
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  7. Proto-Italic*eks
  8. Latinex
  9. Latinex-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂ti
  12. Proto-Italic*fāōr
  13. Latinfor
  14. Latineffor
  15. Latineffābilis
  16. Latinineffābili
  17. Middle Frenchineffable
  18. English todayineffable

Borrowed from Middle French ineffable, a learned borrowing from Latin ineffābilis, from in- (“not”) + effābilis (“utterable”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1450 Beyond expression in words; unspeakable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.