Etymologically
Log in

agreeable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 04:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈɡɹiːəbəl/, /əˈɡɹɪbəl/[1]
  • US: /əˈɡɹiəbəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English agreable,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman agreable, also agreeable and aggreable,[4][3][5] and Middle French agreable, now agréable,[4][2][6] formed from agreer (“to please, satisfy”), the source of agree, and the suffix -able.[4][7][8] The Old French verb comes from the phrase a gré (“to one's liking”),[7][9] from ad (“to”) and gré (“that which pleases”), from grātum, the neuter of grātus (“pleasing, welcome”),[7][9] which Etymonline derives from Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“to favor”).[7] In French the adjective meant pleasing from the 12th century, consenting or willing from about 1270 and fitting from about 1400.[4] The OED compares agradable, agradable and agradável in other Romance languages.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pleasing to someone, to their liking: about 1405, in a manuscript of Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale (written about 1390).[4] Etymonline gives the late 14th century, of things, and the Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1235 in the sense "pleasing, satisfactory".[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the adjective keeps the oldest meaning of agree, "to please", which the verb itself has lost.[9][7] The use without to, simply "pleasant", is recorded from about 1450 and is now the most common.[4] From the 15th century the word also meant suitable or fitting (until 1845) and conforming or corresponding to something;[4] agreeable with, consistent with, is from 1512,[4] and Johnson (1755) put "suitable to; consistent with" first among its senses.[10] Of a person, willing to agree or consent, it is recorded from 1448,[4][7] and the OED now labels this colloquial and regional;[4] the English Dialect Dictionary found it in general colloquial use for "willing, compliant", as in Lincolnshire I'm agreeable.[11] The noun, pleasant things, dates from 1710,[4][2] and an agreeable, a pleasant person, especially a woman, was briefly in use from 1712 to 1739, first in Addison's Spectator.[4] To do the agreeable, to behave courteously, is recorded from 1825.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1405 – pleasing to someone (with to).[4]
  • c. 1425 – suitable, fitting (obsolete by 1845).[4]
  • 1448 – of a person, willing to agree.[4][7]
  • c. 1450 – pleasant, likeable.[4]
  • 1512 – agreeable with, consistent with.[4]
  • 1549 – adverb, agreeably.[4]
  • 1583 – of a proposal, acceptable.[4]
  • 1710 – noun, pleasant things.[4][2]
  • 1825 – to do the agreeable, to behave courteously.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Pleasant and enjoyable; pleasing: We spent an agreeable afternoon by the river.[12][2][4]
  2. To one's liking; acceptable: Are these conditions agreeable to you?[12][2][4]
  3. Willing to agree or consent: She was agreeable to the change of plan.[12][2][4]
  4. In keeping or consistent with something.[12][2][4]
  5. (obsolete, 1425–1845) Suitable, fitting.[4][10]

Noun

  1. (rare, usually plural) A pleasant person or thing.[2][4]

Word family

  • agreeability
  • agreeably
  • agreeableness

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins