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Origin and history of effable

effable(adj.)

"that may be (lawfully) expressed in words," 1630s, from French effable or directly, from Latin effabilis "utterable," from effari "to utter" (see ineffable). Now obsolete or archaic.

also from 1630s

Entries linking to effable

ineffable(adj.)

late 14c., "beyond expression, too great for words, inexpressible," from Old French ineffable (14c.) or directly from Latin ineffabilis "unutterable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + effabilis "speakable," from effari "utter," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + fari "to say, speak," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say."

Meaning "that may not be spoken" is from 1590s. Plural noun ineffables was, for a time, a jocular euphemism for "trousers" (1823; see inexpressible). Related: Ineffably.

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    scourge
    c. 1200, "a whip used for inflicting pain or punishment, a lash used for torture," from Anglo-French scorge, escorge, back-formation from Old French scurge, eschurge "a whip, scourge, thong," from escorgier "to whip," which is from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare. This is a compound o
    coincidence
    c. 1600, "exact correspondence in substance or nature," from French coincidence, from coincider, from Medieval Latin coincidere, literally "to fall upon together," from assimilated form of  Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + incidere "to fall upon" (from in- "upon" + co
    encounter
    c. 1300, "meeting of adversaries, confrontation," from Old French encontre "meeting; fight; opportunity" (12c.), noun use of preposition/adverb encontre "against, counter to" from Late Latin incontra "in front of," from Latin in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + contra "against" (
    forgive
    Old English forgiefan "give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense)," also "give up" and "give in marriage" (past tense forgeaf, past participle forgifen); from for-, here probably "completely," + giefan "to give" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive"). The sense
    retrieve
    early 15c., retreven, "find or discover again," originally in reference to dogs finding lost game, from retruev-, stem of Old French retreuver (Modern French retrouver) "find again, recover, meet again, recognize," from re- "again" (see re-) + trouver "to find," probably from Vul
    prosperous
    early 15c., "favorable, auspicious, tending to bring success;" late 15c., "flourishing, successful, making good progress in anything good or desirable;" from Anglo-French prosperous, prospereus, Anglo-Latin prosperosus, or directly from Old French prospereus (15c.), from prospere
    commodity
    early 15c., "benefit, profit, welfare;" also "a convenient or useful product," from Old French commodit "benefit, profit" (15c.) and directly from Latin commoditatem (nominative commoditas) "fitness, adaptation, convenience, advantage," from commodus "proper, fit, appropriate, co
    exquisite
    early 15c., "carefully selected," from Latin exquisitus "choice," literally "carefully sought out," from past participle stem of exquirere "search out thoroughly," from ex "out" (see ex-) + quaerere "to seek" (see query (v.)). Originally in English of any thing (good or bad, tort
    cowboy
    1725, "boy who tends to cows and drives them to and from pasture," from cow (n.) + boy. American-English sense of "man employed to have care of grazing cattle on the Great Plains for a stockman or ranch, doing his work on horseback" is by 1849. Earlier it was an insulting name fo
    bachelor
    c. 1300, "young man;" also "youthful knight, novice in arms," from Old French bacheler, bachelor, bachelier (11c.) "knight bachelor," a young squire in training for knighthood, also "young man; unmarried man," and a university title. A word of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from

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