negotiable

Etymology

It is formed from English negotiate + -able,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} perhaps after French négociable, recorded from 1678;^[2][5] Etymonline gives the French word as a possible direct source.^[3] Negotiate goes back to Latin negōtior (“to do business, trade, deal”), from negōtium (“business, work, trouble”),^[2][3] literally "lack of leisure", from neg- (“not”) and ōtium (“ease, leisure”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a bill, draft or similar document: transferable from one person to another in the course of business: 1758, in the Monthly Review.^[2][7] Etymonline dates the word to 1749.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began in commerce, of bills of exchange and bank notes that could pass from hand to hand.^[2][3] Burke used it in 1794 of a person who could be negotiated with, a rare sense that did not last.^[2] From 1880 it was used of roads, passages and obstacles that could be crossed or travelled,^[2][3] a use that matches the sense of the verb negotiate "to clear an obstacle", which Etymonline traces to the hunting field.^[3] From 1906 an idea could be negotiable, giving an agreed basis for discussion; since 1939 terms, prices and conditions were negotiable, open to bargaining.^[2]

Timeline

• 1758 – of a bill or draft, transferable in the course of business.^[2][7] Etymonline dates the word to 1749.^[3]
• 1794 – of a person, that can be negotiated with (obsolete).^[2]
• 1880 – of an obstacle or route, that can be crossed or followed.^[2][3]
• 1906 – of an idea, giving an agreed basis for discussion.^[2]
• 1939 – open to discussion or bargaining.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Open to discussion or bargaining; to be settled by agreement: The rent is negotiable.^[8][2][7]
2. Of a bill of exchange, cheque, promissory note or similar document: transferable to another person by delivery or endorsement.^[8][4][9][2]
3. Of a road, river or obstacle: that can be crossed, passed or travelled.^[2][7]
4. Of a deal or task: capable of being accomplished.^[9][7]

Word family

• negotiability
• negotiably
• nonnegotiable
• unnegotiable

Related words

• negotiate
• negotiation
• otiose

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West