Etymologically
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invisible

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French invisible and directly Latin invisibilis (“unseen, not visible”),[2][3][4] from in-, not, and visibilis (see visible).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

That cannot be seen by its nature: about 1340 in Barnhart, 1340 in the OED, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

Too small to be seen, as of pores, is first recorded in Hooke's Micrographia (1665).[2] Kept out of sight, and the noun, things invisible, are from the 1640s.[3] Associations without an open organization are invisible from 1646–47,[5] and invisible ink from 1682.[5][3] Invisible exports and imports, services not appearing in trade returns, are from 1911,[5] as is the invisible man, after H. G. Wells's novel of 1897.[5][3] Invisible mending is from 1921.[5]

Timeline

  • 1340 – unseeable.[5]
  • 1640s – kept out of sight.[3]
  • 1665 – too small to see.[2]
  • 1682 – invisible ink.[5]
  • 1911 – invisible exports.[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Impossible to see; not visible.
  2. Hidden from view or from the public; secret.
  3. Not easily noticed: invisible mending.
  4. (economics) Of or relating to services rather than goods.

Noun

  1. (economics) An invisible item of trade.

Word family

  • invisibility
  • invisibly
  • invisibleness
  • invisible hand
  • invisible ink

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ 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