accessible

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əkˈsɛs.ɪ.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French accessible and directly borrowed from Late Latin accessibilis,^[2][3][4] from Latin accessus (“an approach, entrance”), from accēdere (“to approach, come near”) (see accede).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capable of being approached or reached: about 1400 in Etymonline;^[2] affording entrance, 1610 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Easy to reach or enter is from the 1640s (1642 in the OED).^[2][6] Open to an influence is from 1818.^[6] Of art or writing, easily understood, is by 1961.^[2][6] Usable by people with disabilities is a later sense.^[7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – capable of being reached.^[2]
• 1642 – easy of access.^[6]
• 1818 – open to an influence.^[6]
• 1961 – easy to understand.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Able to be reached or entered easily.
2. Easy to obtain or use: accessible information.
3. Easily understood or appreciated.
4. Usable by people with disabilities.

Word family

• accessibility
• accessibly
• accessibleness
• nonaccessible
• unaccessible

Related words

• access
• accede
• inaccessible

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins