personable

The story

1. Latin · derived from-ābilis
2. Medieval Latin · derived frompersōna“person”
3. Medieval Latin · derived frompersonābilis“personal”
4. Old French · derived frompersonable
5. Middle French · derived frompersonable
6. Middle English · inherited frompersonable
7. English todaypersonable

From Late Middle English personable, personabil (“having a pleasing appearance, handsome”), and then from both of the following: * For sense 1 (“having a pleasing appearance”) and sense 2 (“having a pleasant manner”) (these senses are not found in Old French or Medieval Latin), probably from person, personne, persoun (“individual, person”) + -āble (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’ forming adjectives). * For sense 3.1 (“synonym of personal”) and sense 3.2 (“being a legal person”), from Middle French personable and Old French personable, and from their etymon Medieval Latin personābilis (“personal”), possibly from Medieval Latin persōna (“person”) + Latin -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’). By surface analysis, person + -able (suffix meaning ‘relevant or suitable to’).

Words from the same roots