Advertisement

Origin and history of recoverable

recoverable(adj.)

late 15c., "capable of being regained," from Old French recouvrable, from recouvrer, or else a native formation from recover (v.). From 1590s as "capable of being brought back to a former condition;" 1610s as "curable." Related: Recoverability.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to recoverable

recover(v.)

c. 1300, recoveren, "to regain consciousness," also "regain health or strength after sickness, injury, etc.," from Anglo-French rekeverer (13c.), Old French recovrer "come back, return; regain health; procure, get again" (11c.), from Medieval Latin recuperare "to recover" (source of Spanish recobrar, Italian ricoverare; see recuperation).

The sense of "get (anything) back, get or regain possession or control of," literally or figuratively, after it has been lost, is attested from mid-14c. In law, "obtain by judgment or legal proceedings," late 14c. The transitive sense of "restore from sickness, restore (another) to health" is from c. 1600; that of "rescue, save from danger" is from 1610s. Related: Recovered; recovering. To recover arms (1680s) is to bring the piece from the position of "aim" to that of "ready."

unrecoverable(adj.)

"completely lost," c. 1400, from un- (1) "not" + recoverable.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    poetry
    It is not recoverable thought, but a hue caught from a vaster receding thought....
    poontang
    "female genitalia," also "sex with a woman; woman regarded as a sex object," c. 1910, a word of uncertain origin.  Shortened form poon is recorded by 1969. Probably via New Orleans Creole, from French putain "prostitute," from Old French pute "whore" (cognate with Spanish an
    hanker
    c. 1600, "linger in expectation;" 1640s, "have a longing or craving for," of unknown origin. Probably from Flemish hankeren, related to Dutch hunkeren "to hanker, to long for," which is perhaps an intensive or frequentative of Middle Dutch hangen "to hang" (see hang (v.)). If so,
    heresy
    "doctrine or opinion at variance with established standards" (or, as Johnson defines it, "an opinion of private men different from that of the catholick and orthodox church"), c. 1200, from Old French heresie, eresie "heresy," and by extension "sodomy, immorality" (12c.), from La
    scapegoat
    1530, "goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement as a symbolic bearer of the sins of the people," coined by Tyndale from scape, a shortening of escape (see scape (v.)) + goat; the whole word translating Latin caper emissarius, itself a translation in Vulgate of Hebrew
    stymie
    1857, in golf, "put a player in the position where an opponent's ball is directly in the line of approach to the hole;" from stymie (n.) "condition in which an opponent's ball blocks the line of approach to the hole" (1834). It is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Scottish stymie
    Alexander
    masc. proper name, from Latin, from Greek Alexandros "defending men," from alexein "to ward off, keep off, turn (something) away, defend, protect" + anēr (genitive andros) "man" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man"). The first element perhaps is related to Greek alke "protection, help,
    exacerbation
    "act of exacerbating; state of being exacerbated; increase of violence or virulence, aggravation," c. 1400, exacerbacioun, from Late Latin exacerbationem (nominative exacerbatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin exacerbare "exasperate, irritate, provoke," from e
    hamburger
    1610s, Hamburger "native of Hamburg." Also used of ships from Hamburg. From 1838 as a type of excellent black grape indigenous to Tyrolia; 1857 as a variety of hen. The meat product was so called by 1880 (as hamburg steak); if it was named for the German city no certain connectio
    battery
    1530s, "action of battering," in law, "the unlawful beating of another," from French batterie, from Old French baterie "beating, thrashing, assault" (12c.), from batre "to beat," from Latin battuere (see batter (v.)). The meaning shifted in French from "bombardment" ("heavy blows

    Share recoverable

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near recoverable
    Advertisement