incredible

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈkred.ə.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English incredible,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin incrēdibilis (“not to be believed, extraordinary”),^[4][5] from in- “not” and crēdibilis (“worthy of belief”),^[4][2] the source of credible, from crēdere “to believe”.^[4][6] It is related to credit, creed and incredulous.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Unbelievable, surpassing belief as to what is possible”: 1412–20 in the OED,^[7] the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A now extinct sense, “unbelieving, incredulous”, was used about 1400,^[4] 1557 in the OED, and lasted to the mid-18th century.^[7][5] The weakened sense, “hard to believe; of exceedingly great quantity or quality, surprising”, is from 1482,^[7] now colloquial.^[5] As a noun, an incredible thing, it is from 1610.^[7] Incredibly is from the late 15th century,^[5] and incredibleness from the early 17th.^[5][7]

Timeline

• 1412 – beyond belief.^[7]
• 1482 – astonishing, extraordinary.^[7]
• 1557 – unbelieving.^[7]
• 1610 – noun, an incredible thing.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. So implausible as to cause disbelief; unbelievable.
2. (informal) Astonishing; extraordinary: an incredible view.

Word family

• incredibility
• incredibly
• incredibleness

Related words

• credibility
• creed
• credible
• credit
• incredulous

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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press