audible
Pronunciation
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
Noun
- (American football) A change of play called by the quarterback at the line of scrimmage.[13][8][2]
- A thing that can be heard, usually in the plural.[2][12]
Verb
Word family
- audibility
- audibleness
- audibly
- audibilize
- nonaudible
- subaudible
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins