Etymologically
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adhesive

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ədˈhiː.sɪv/[1]
  • US: /ədˈhi.sɪv/, /ædˈhi.sɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French adhésif (“sticky”), recorded in Middle French from 1478,[2][3][4][5] and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin adhaesīvus (“adhering, sticky”), recorded from the 12th or 13th century,[2][6] formed from the past participle stem of Latin adhaereō (“to stick to”), and -īvus, the source of -ive.[2][3][6][4] The Latin verb is from ad- (“to”) and haereō (“to stick”),[3] the source of adhere and of hesitate.[3] The Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com take it instead as formed within English, from adhesion and -ive,[7][8] as Johnson had in 1755.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the property of sticking to something: 1661, in K. Digby's Discourse on the vegetation of plants.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1663 the adjective was also used figuratively, of steadfast attachment to a person or cause, hence clinging or persistent,[2] the sense the Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford give as the first.[5][7] Johnson defined it in 1755 as "sticking; tenacious".[9] The noun began in medicine as short for adhesive plaster (1753; in the modern sense of a sticking plaster from 1835),[2] after French emplâtre adhésif.[2] As a substance for sticking things together, such as glue, it dates from 1849,[2][6] and philatelists from 1854 called a gummed stamp an adhesive, short for adhesive stamp (1840).[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1661 – sticky, able to stick to something.[2][6]
  • 1663 – steadfastly attached; tenacious, persistent.[2]
  • 1753 – noun, adhesive plaster.[2]
  • 1840 – adhesive stamp.[3]
  • 1849 – noun, a substance used to stick things together.[2][6]
  • 1854 – noun, a gummed postage stamp.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able or made to stick to a surface; sticky: adhesive labels.[10][6][11]
  2. Clinging or tenacious; hard to shake off: an adhesive rumour.[10][11][6]

Noun

  1. A substance that sticks things together, such as glue, paste or cement.[10][6][11][2]
  2. Adhesive tape or a sticking plaster.[6][2]
  3. A gummed postage stamp.[6][2]

Word family

  • adhesively
  • adhesiveness
  • nonadhesive
  • unadhesive
  • self-adhesive
  • adhesive tape
  • adhesive bandage

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt