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Origin and history of pregnable

pregnable(adj.)

of a fortress, etc., "capable of being taken or won by force," 1530s, an alteration of Middle English preignable, earlier prenable (early 15c.), pernable (late 14c.), from Old French prenable, pregnauble "assailable, vulnerable," from stem of prendre "to take, grasp, seize," from Latin prehendere "to take hold of, to seize" (from prae- "before," see pre-, + -hendere, from PIE root *ghend- "to seize, take"). The form was confused in French and English by the influence of unrelated words from French preignaunt and English pregnant.

also from 1530s

Entries linking to pregnable

pregnant(adj.2)

["convincing, weighty, pithy, full of meaning"] late 14c., "cogent, convincing, compelling" (of evidence, an argument, etc.); c. 1400 as "full of meaning;" from Old French preignant "pregnant, pithy, ready capable," which is probably from Latin praegnans "with child, pregnant, full" and thus the same word as pregnant (adj.1).

All uses seem to be derivable from the sense of "with child." But in some sources this English pregnant has been referred to French prenant, present participle of prendre "to take," or to the French present participle of preindre "press, squeeze, stamp, crush," from earlier priembre, from Latin premere "to press, hold fast, cover, crowd, compress." The two English adjectives are so confused as to be practically one word, if they were not always so.

impregnable(adj.)

early 15c., imprenable "impossible to capture," from Old French imprenable "invulnerable," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + Old French prenable "assailable, vulnerable" (see pregnable). With restored -g- from 16c. Related: Impregnably.

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*ghend-
also *ghed-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to seize, to take."  It forms all or part of: apprehend; apprentice; apprise; beget; comprehend; comprehension; comprehensive; comprise; depredate; depredation; emprise; enterprise; entrepreneur; forget; get; guess; impresario;
compensate
1640s, "to be equivalent;" 1650s, "to counterbalance, make up for, give a substitute of equal value to," from Latin compensatus, past participle of compensare "to weigh one thing (against another)," thus, "to counterbalance," etymologically "to weigh together," from com "with, to
keen
c. 1200, kene, from Old English cene "bold, brave, fearless," in later Old English "clever, prudent, wise, intelligent," common Germanic (cognate with Old Norse kænn "skillful, wise," Middle Dutch coene "bold," Dutch koen, Old High German kuon "pugnacious, strong," German kühn "b
literature
early 15c., "book-learning," from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "alphabetic letter" also "an epistle, writing, document; literature, great books; science, learning" (see letter (n.1)). In
luxury
c. 1300, "sexual intercourse;" mid-14c., "lasciviousness, sinful self-indulgence;" late 14c., "sensual pleasure," from Old French luxurie "debauchery, dissoluteness, lust" (12c., Modern French luxure), from Latin luxuria "excess, extravagant living, profusion; delicacy" (source a
mood
"emotional condition, state of mind as regards passion or feeling," c. 1300, from Old English mod "heart, frame of mind, spirit; courage, arrogance, pride; power, violence" (also used to translate Latin animus, mens), from Proto-Germanic *mōda- (source also of Old Saxon mod "mind
friend
Old English freond "one attached to another by feelings of personal regard and preference," from Proto-Germanic *frijōjands "lover, friend" (source also of Old Norse frændi, Old Danish frynt, Old Frisian friund, Dutch vriend, Middle High German friunt, German Freund, Gothic frijo
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
dilemma
1520s in rhetoric (see below), from Late Latin dilemma, from Greek dilemma "double proposition," a technical term in rhetoric, from di- "two" (see di- (1)) + lemma "premise, anything received or taken," from root of lambanein "to take" (see lemma). A form of argument in which it
chlamydia
type of genital infection, 1984, from the name of the bacteria that causes it (1966), which is formed from a Latinized combining form of Greek khlamys (genitive khlamydos) "short mantle, upper garment for men, military cloak," which is of unknown origin, + abstract noun ending -i

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