available

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈveɪ.lə.bᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English avail + -able,^[2][3][4] Middle English avayleable.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Legally valid: 1417.^[6] Etymonline dates the senses “beneficial” and “valid, effective” to the mid-15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The early senses “effective” and “advantageous” lasted into the early 19th century,^[6] and “valid” survives only in law.^[3][7] The modern sense “at one's disposal, usable” is from 1800^[6] or 1827.^[2]

Timeline

• 1417 – legally valid.^[6]
• 1444–1836 – advantageous.^[6]
• 1800 – usable, at hand.^[6]
• 1827 – at one's disposal.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Present and ready for use; at hand; accessible.
2. Able to be obtained.
3. Free and willing to serve or to be approached.
4. (law) Valid, as of a plea.
5. (archaic) Effective, beneficial.

Word family

• availability
• availably
• availableness
• interavailable
• unavailable
• available light

Related words

• avail

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin