Etymologically
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possible

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈpɒs.ə.bᵊl/, US /ˈpɑː.sə.bᵊl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English possybil, borrowed from Old French possible and directly borrowed from Latin possibilis (“that can be done”),[2][3] from posse (“to be able”) and the suffix -ibilis,[2][4] itself from potis (“able”) and esse (“to be”).[5] Barnhart notes that possibilis was coined by scholars in the 1st century AD to translate Greek δυνατός (dunatós, “possible”).[3] It is related to potent and possess.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

That may be, that can exist or be done: probably between 1350 and 1375,[3] or the mid-14th century according to Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

Possibility is from about 1385, in Chaucer,[3] and possibly from about 1400.[3] From 1488 to 1692 possible could mean “the greatest possible”,[7] and the sense “that may be true, conceivable” is recorded from 1582.[7] The noun, “that which may happen”, is from the 1640s.[2] The Century Dictionary insisted that possible means what may be, not what can be done, and that it should not be used for practicable.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – possible.[3]
  • c. 1385 – possibility (Chaucer).[3]
  • c. 1400 – possibly.[3]
  • 1582 – that may be true.[7]
  • 1640s – noun.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Able to happen, exist or be true without contradicting known facts or laws.
  2. Able to be done; within one's power.
  3. Capable of good development; potential.
  4. Of uncertain likelihood: a possible risk.

Noun

  1. Something that is possible; a potential candidate or choice.

Word family

  • possibly
  • compossible

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary contrasts possible with workable, practicable, feasible and viable: possible says only that something may happen, exist or be done.[8]

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 c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin