feasible

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English faisible, later feseable,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman faisible, from Old French faisable (“possible, that may be done; easy, convenient”),^[4][2][5] formed from fais-, a stem of faire (“to do, make”), and the suffix -ible or -able.^[5][6][7] The French verb comes from Latin faciō (“to make, do”),^[4][8][9] which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to set, put”).^[4][8] Partridge suggests that the -ible form may have been prompted by Medieval Latin facibilis.^[10] Anglo-Norman faisable is recorded from the end of the 13th century, meaning feasible or convenient.^[11] The word is related to fact, feat and the many other English words from the Latin verb.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capable of being done, possible: 1443, spelled faisible, in the Proceedings of the Privy Council.^[2][12] The OED's first quotation is from Fortescue's Governance of England (about 1460).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The modern spelling with ea is first recorded in 1614.^[2] From 1611 the word was also used of things and people that could be dealt with or managed successfully.^[5] Hobbes (1656) is the first to use it of a theory or story that seemed likely or probable.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "practicable; such as may be effected", and quoted Glanvill's plural noun "easy feasibles", a use recorded only in the 1660s.^[13][5] The noun feasibility dates from 1624.^[2] In Scots feasible also meant neat and tidy; one speaker in Perthshire explained it as "faceable".^[14]

Timeline

• 1443 – faisible, capable of being done.^[2]
• c. 1460 – possible, practicable (Fortescue).^[5]
• before 1475 – the spelling feseable.^[2]
• 1611 – of things or people, manageable.^[5]
• 1614 – the spelling feasible.^[2]
• 1624 – feasibility.^[2]
• 1656 – likely, probable.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Able to be done or carried out; practicable: a feasible timetable for the work.
2. Able to be used or dealt with successfully; suitable.
3. Likely or plausible: a feasible explanation.

Word family

• feasibility
• feasibly
• nonfeasible

Related words

• fact
• feat
• difficult
• affair

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes Fowler's view that the word suits only those who feel that "the use of an ordinary word for an ordinary notion does not do justice to their vocabulary".^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ 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)