potable

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₃-“to drink”
2. Proto-Italic · derived from*pōtos
3. Latin · derived frompōtāre“to drink”
4. Late Latin · derived frompōtābilis“drinkable, potable”
5. Old French · derived frompotable
6. Middle English · inherited frompotable“drinkable, potable”
7. English todaypotable

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English potable (“drinkable, potable”), from Middle French, Old French potable (modern French potable (“drinkable, potable”)), and from its etymon Late Latin pōtābilis (“drinkable, potable”), from Latin pōtāre (“to drink”) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon). Pōtāre is the present active infinitive of pōtō (“to drink”), from Proto-Italic *pōtos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (“to drink”). The English word is cognate with Catalan potable, Italian potabile, Spanish potable. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots