audible

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin audībilis (“able to be heard”),^[2][3][4][5] recorded from the 4th century,^[2] perhaps partly through Middle French audible.^[6][7] The Latin adjective is formed from Latin audiō (“to hear”) and -bilis (English -ible).^[2][8][9] The OED notes that the French word is found once in 1488 and then only from 1807.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate the verb to Ancient Greek αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai, “to perceive”),^[6][8][10] and Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *au- (“to perceive”).^[7][3] Many English words come from the same Latin verb: audience, audit, audition, auditorium and audio-.^[11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Perceptible to the ear, able to be heard: 1483, in a translation of Adam of Eynsham's Revelation.^[2] Barnhart dates it to 1529, in the writings of Sir Thomas More,^[6] Etymonline to the 1520s,^[7] and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning "able to be heard" has stayed stable.^[2][5] The Shorter Oxford notes that inaudible is recorded earlier.^[5] A rare sense, able to hear, is found in 1603.^[2] As a noun, a thing that can be heard, usually in the plural, it is recorded from 1626, in Bacon,^[2][7] and Johnson (1755) quoted Bacon's audibles beside visibles.^[12] In American football an audible is a play called by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage to change the one agreed in the huddle, from 1953;^[2][8] Etymonline dates it to 1958.^[7] From it came a verb, to call an audible (1959),^[2][8] which since 1970 can also mean to change a plan at the last moment, to improvise.^[2]

Timeline

• 1483 – perceptible to the ear.^[2]
• 1529 – in Sir Thomas More.^[6]
• 1603 – able to hear (rare, obsolete).^[2]
• 1626 – noun, a thing that can be heard.^[2]
• 1953 – American football, a play called at the line of scrimmage.^[2][8]
• 1959 – verb, to call an audible.^[2][8]
• 1970 – verb, to improvise, change a plan.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Loud enough to be heard: She gave an audible sigh.^[13][8][2]

Noun

1. (American football) A change of play called by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage.^[13][8][2]
2. A thing that can be heard, usually in the plural.^[2][12]

Verb

1. (American football) To call an audible.^[8][2]
2. To change a plan at the last moment; to improvise.^[2]

Word family

• audibility
• audibleness
• audibly
• audibilize
• nonaudible
• subaudible

Related words

• audio
• auditory
• inaudible
• audience
• audit
• audition
• auditorium
• obey

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 r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ 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.
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins