Etymologically
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incredible

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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
  • 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