Etymologically
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believable

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Pronunciation

  • /bɪˈliːvəbl̩/, /bi-/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English believe + -able,[2][3] first as bilevable[4] or belevable,[5] modelled on Latin crēdibilis (“credible”).[2] Believe is from Middle English bileven, from Old English belyfan (“to have faith or confidence”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to be believed, credible: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible, where Psalm 92 has beleeuable for Latin credibilia.[2][4] The Middle English Dictionary glosses this use as "trustworthy".[4] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as "credible; that which may be credited or believed".[6] From 1892 it was used of works of fiction and their characters, settings or plots, for "convincing, realistic",[2] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives it the sense of inspiring trust or acceptance, as of an actor's portrayal.[5][7]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – able to be believed; credible.[2][4]
  • 1755 – Johnson: credible.[6]
  • 1892 – of fiction or its characters, convincing, realistic.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to be believed; credible or plausible: He gave a believable excuse for missing the meeting.[5][2]
  2. Convincing or realistic, especially of a work of fiction, a character or an actor's performance; inspiring trust: The villain is barely believable.[5][2][7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin