Etymology

suboptimal

sub·op·ti·mal
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Today it means: Worse than optimal; of less than the highest standard or quality. Full definition →

English optimal ← Latin optimus ← Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Italic*supo
  3. Latinsub
  4. Latinsub-
  5. Englishsub-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  9. Latinoptimus
  10. Englishoptimal
  11. English todaysuboptimal

From sub- + optimal.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.