comfortable

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkʌmf.tə.bəl/, US /ˈkʌmp.fɚ.t̬ə.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English comfortable, confortable,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman confortable (“comforting; pleasant, agreeable”),^[3][4] from conforter (“to comfort, solace”),^[3][2] the source of the verb comfort, with the suffix -able.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Affording mental or spiritual comfort or delight”: the mid-14th century, about 1340 in the OED.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word was first active, “giving comfort”: pleasant to the senses (about 1400),^[6] strengthening or reassuring, and consoling, comforting.^[4] These survive only in phrases such as the Comfortable Words, the scriptural passages after the absolution in some Anglican communion services.^[6][4] Johnson (1755) still gave “receiving comfort” and “admitting comfort”, as in Shakespeare.^[7] The modern sense, “offering physical ease”, is from 1769,^[3][8] and “at ease, in a state of tranquil enjoyment” from 1770.^[3] A comfortable income, enough to live without hardship, belongs to the first group, which the Shorter Oxford dates from the mid-18th century,^[4] and a comfortable margin or victory, won with ease, is from the mid-20th century.^[4] In northern and western dialects it also meant agreeable, obliging.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – affording spiritual delight.^[6]
• c. 1400 – pleasing to the senses.^[6]
• 1769 – offering physical ease.^[3][8]
• 1770 – at ease.^[3]
• mid-20th century – of a margin or victory.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Giving physical comfort: a comfortable chair.
2. Free from pain, stress or anxiety; at ease.
3. Enough for financial security: a comfortable income.
4. Large enough to avoid any doubt: a comfortable lead.

Word family

• comfortableness
• comfortably
• supercomfortable
• comfy
• uncomfortable

Related words

• comforter
• discomfort
• comfort
• fort

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes comfortable, the absence of anything that causes pain or distress, from cozy, snug and restful.^[10]

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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin