admirable

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English admirable,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman admirable, also admirable;^[4][3][5][6] the OED also takes it directly from Latin admīrābilis (“deserving of wonder, astonishing, worthy of admiration”),^[4] itself from admīror (“to wonder at, admire”) and the suffix -bilis.^[4][3][7] The Latin verb is formed from ad (“to, with regard to”) and mīror (“to wonder”).^[8] In French the adjective is recorded about 1170 as amirable, in the sense "exciting wonder", and in 1549 as "worthy of admiration";^[4] the Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the mid-13th century, already meant "worthy of admiration or praise".^[9] The OED compares Spanish admirable and Italian ammirabile.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exciting wonder, marvellous: about 1450, in a Middle English translation of Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus, which calls a woman transcendent And admyrable and luflyeste of face.^[4][2] The MED reads the same passage as "worthy of admiration".^[2] Barnhart dates the word about 1450,^[7] Etymonline to the mid-15th century,^[8] and Dictionary.com to 1590–1600.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that in early use the word carried a stronger sense of "awe-inspiring, marvellous".^[8] The sense "worthy of admiration or praise" is first recorded before 1586 in Sidney's Arcadia,^[4] and it gradually displaced the sense of mere wonder, which is now rare or obsolete;^[4][3] the Shorter Oxford notes that it survives in the phrase the Admirable Crichton.^[5] Johnson (1755) still defined it as both "worthy of admiration" and "of power to excite wonder", always in a good sense.^[11] In later use it became a general term of approval, "excellent, very good".^[4][3] As an adverb, "very, extremely", it was used from 1593 in Merriam-Webster's dating, 1606 in the OED's, to 1817.^[3][4] Nouns formed from it named wonders (1547–1826), a variety of peach (1693) and the red and white admiral butterflies (1742).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – exciting wonder, marvellous.^[4][2]
• 1547 – plural noun, wonders (obsolete by 1826).^[4]
• before 1586 – worthy of admiration or praise.^[4]
• 1593 – adverb, very, extremely (obsolete).^[3]
• 1693 – noun, a variety of peach.^[4]
• 1742 – noun, the red or white admiral butterfly.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Deserving admiration or high esteem; excellent: She showed admirable patience with the new recruits.^[12][3][4]
2. (obsolete) Causing wonder; marvellous or astonishing.^[3][4][11]

Adverb

1. (obsolete, 1606–1817) Very, extremely; admirably.^[3][4]

Word family

• admirableness
• admirably
• admirability
• superadmirable
• unadmirable

Related words

• admire
• admiration
• miracle
• marvel
• mirror

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ 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.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins