inconvenience

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inconvenience,^[2] borrowed from Old French inconvenience (“misfortune, calamity; impropriety”) (modern inconvenance),^[3][4][5] from Late Latin inconvenientia (“lack of consistency, incongruity”),^[3][4][6][5] which in Medieval Latin also meant misfortune or affliction.^[4] The Late Latin noun is formed from inconveniēns (“not agreeing, unsuitable”),^[3][4][7] from in- (“not”) and conveniēns (“agreeing, fitting”), the source of convenient.^[8][6] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, for incongruity, trouble and misfortune, and an improper act.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unsuitableness or unfitness: 1413, in the Pylgremage of the Sowle.^[3] Etymonline dates the word to about 1400, in the senses harm, danger and misfortune,^[4] and Barnhart to probably about 1400, meaning inconsistency.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In late Middle English the word covered a range of senses close to its Latin source: incongruity or absurdity (c. 1460–1706), moral impropriety or an unseemly act (c. 1460–1560), and harm, injury or misfortune (before 1500 to 1695).^[3][2] The Middle English Dictionary also records it for a sin or fault and for a contradiction.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense "impropriety, unfitness" to the early 15th century.^[4] The plural, for troublesome circumstances or disadvantages, is recorded from 1578,^[3] and the modern sense, the quality of being inconvenient, trouble or discomfort, from 1653, in Walton's Compleat Angler.^[3][8][4] The old senses of harm and misfortune passed into this one.^[3] The verb "to cause trouble to" appears before 1656.^[3][7][4] French went its own way: modern inconvenance means impropriety.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 1413 – unsuitableness, unfitness (obsolete by 1684).^[3]
• c. 1460 – incongruity, absurdity (obsolete by 1706).^[3]
• c. 1460 – impropriety, an unseemly act (obsolete by 1560).^[3]
• before 1500 – harm, injury, misfortune (obsolete by 1695).^[3]
• 1578 – a troublesome circumstance, a disadvantage.^[3]
• 1653 – the state of being inconvenient; trouble, discomfort.^[3][8]
• before 1656 – verb, to cause someone trouble.^[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The state or fact of being inconvenient; trouble or discomfort: We apologize for any inconvenience during the repairs.^[10][7][3]
2. Something that causes trouble or difficulty; a nuisance or hindrance: The long commute was a daily inconvenience.^[10][7][3]
3. (obsolete) Harm or misfortune.^[7][3][2]
4. (obsolete) Incongruity, unsuitableness or impropriety.^[7][3][2]

Verb

1. To cause trouble or difficulty to someone: I hope our late arrival didn't inconvenience you.^[10][7][3]

Word family

• uninconvenienced

Related words

• convenience
• convenient
• inconvenient
• convene

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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)
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins