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Etymology and origin of the English word answerable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1446 Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origins
Old English andswaruAnglo-Norman -able
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English answer
English answerable
From the same root
English unanswered ← answer

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɑːnsəɹəb(ə)l/, /ˈɑːnsɹəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ˈæn.səɹ.ə.bl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English answer + -able.[2][3][4][5] Etymonline takes the verb here in its sense "be responsible for".[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Accountable for an act, a result or a debt: 1446, in the Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council.[2] The revised OED moved the date back from the 1548 of its 1989 edition,[6] and other dictionaries give the 16th century: Merriam-Webster Unabridged 1536,[7] Etymonline the 1540s.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began in legal and moral accountability, with accountability to a person or authority recorded from 1527 and absolute use, with no preposition, from 1534.[2] Shakespeare's "If he have robb'd these men He shall be answerable" shows the absolute use.[4] In the 16th century it also came to mean "responding to" a thing: corresponding or equivalent (1534), suitable or becoming (1542) and proportional in amount (1551).[2] These senses are now archaic, though Milton could still write of an "answerable style".[7][4] The meaning "able to be answered" is the rarer one: Etymonline dates it to the 1690s,[3] the Shorter Oxford to the early 16th century.[4] Johnson (1755) put it first, with "obliged to give an account" and "correspondent" after it.[8] In the dialects of Sussex, Somerset and Devon the word meant "durable, lasting", as of a good draining tool, and in Sussex and West Yorkshire "in agreement with".[9]

Timeline

  • 1446 – accountable for an act, a result or a debt.[2]
  • 1527 – accountable to an authority or superior.[2]
  • 1534 – corresponding, equivalent, usually with to.[2]
  • 1542 – suitable, befitting.[2]
  • 1551 – proportional, commensurate in amount or value.[2]
  • 1690s – able to be answered.[3] The Shorter Oxford dates this to the early 16th century.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Liable to be called to account; responsible, to an authority or for something: The treasurer is answerable to the board for every payment.[10][7][2]
  2. Able to be answered: a question answerable in a single word.[10][4][8]
  3. (archaic) Suited to a purpose or need; fitting.[7][4][2]
  4. (archaic) Corresponding, equivalent or commensurate.[7][4][2]

Word family

  • answerability
  • answerably

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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)
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Answerable.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/answerable. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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