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Origin and history of potable

potable(adj.)

"drinkable, suitable for drinking," early 15c., from Old French potable (14c.) and directly from Late Latin potabilis "drinkable," from Latin potare "to drink" (from PIE root *po(i)- "to drink").

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to potable

impotable(adj.)

"undrinkable," c.1600, from assimilated form of in- (1) "not" + potable, or else from Late Latin impotabilis.

*po(i)-

*pō(i)-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to drink."

It might form all or part of: beer; bever; beverage; bib; bibitory; bibulous; hibachi; imbibe; imbrue; pinocytosis; pirogi; poison; potable; potation; potion; symposium.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit pati "drinks," panam "beverage;" Greek pinein "to drink," poton "that which one drinks," potos "drinking bout;" Latin potare "to drink," potio "a potion, a drinking," also "poisonous draught, magic potion;" Old Church Slavonic piti "to drink," pivo "beverage."

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    drink
    Old English drincan "to swallow water or other fluid," also "to swallow up, engulf" (class III strong verb; past tense dranc, past participle druncen), from Proto-Germanic *drenkanan (source also of Old Saxon drinkan, Old Frisian drinka, Dutch drinken, Old High German trinkan, Ge
    cider
    late 13c. (in a biblical context), "strong liquor;" mid-14c., "liquor made from the juice of fruits," from Old French cidre, cire "pear or apple cider" (12c., Modern French cidre), variant of cisdre, from Late Latin sicera, Vulgate rendition of Hebrew shekhar, a word used for any
    option
    c. 1600, "action of choosing;" 1630s, "power or liberty of choosing," from French option (Old French opcion), from Latin optionem (nominative optio) "choice, free choice, liberty to choose," from optare "to desire, pray for, choose," which is of uncertain origin. De Vaan derives
    potion
    c. 1300, pocioun "medicinal drink, dose of liquid medicine or poison," from Old French pocion "potion, draught, medicine" (12c.), from Latin potionem (nominative potio) "a potion, a drinking," also "poisonous draught, magic potion" (source also of Spanish pocion "potion," ponzoña
    coffee
    "drink made from the ground and roasted seeds of a tree originally native to Arabia and Abyssinia," c. 1600, from Dutch koffie, from Turkish kahveh, from Arabic qahwah "coffee," which Arab etymologists connected with a word meaning "wine," but it is perhaps rather from the Kaffa
    cocoa
    "brown powder produced by grinding roasted seeds of the cacao, an American evergreen tree," 1788, originally the seeds themselves (1707), corruption (by influence of coco) of cacao. The confusion with coco was already underway in English when the printers of Johnson's dictionary
    milk
    "opaque white fluid secreted by mammary glands of female mammals, suited to the nourishment of their young," Middle English milk, from Old English meoluc (West Saxon), milc (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *meluk- "milk" (source also of Old Norse mjolk, Old Frisian melok, Old Saxon
    tame
    c. 1200, of persons, "in a state of subjection, physically subdued, restrained in behavior;" mid-13c., of animals, "domesticated, reclaimed from wildness," also, of persons, "meek, gentle-natured, compliant, intent on homely or domestic activities," from oblique forms of Old Engl
    team
    Old English team "descendant, family, race, line; child-bearing, brood; company, band; set of draft animals yoked together," from Proto-Germanic *tau(h)maz (source also of Old Norse taumr, Old Frisian tam "bridle; progeny, line of descent," Dutch toom, Old High German zoum, Germa
    meat
    Middle English mēte, from Old English mete "food, nourishment, sustenance" (paired with drink), "item of food; animal food, fodder," also "a meal, repast," from Proto-Germanic *mati (source also of Old Frisian mete, Old Saxon meti, Old Norse matr, Old High German maz, Gothic mats

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