presentable

Etymology

It is formed from English present + -able,^[2][3][4][5] probably at first after the Anglo-Norman adjective Old French presentable (“that needs to be presented”),^[2] which is recorded from the late 13th century for a cleric who could be nominated to a benefice and for a matter to be brought before the law.^[6][2] The Shorter Oxford takes the earliest uses from Medieval Latin praesentābilis,^[7] which in British sources meant liable to presentment from 1305;^[2] the OED also compares Middle French présentable, used of things from 1530 and of people fit to appear in public from 1727.^[2] Present is from Old French presenter and praesentō (“to place before, show”),^[3][8] from praesēns (“being present”).^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, of an offence or a matter: that may or should be formally presented in court: 1451, in the Paston Letters.^[2][5] Etymonline and the Middle English Dictionary also give a sense of the mid-15th century used of a benefice, to which there is a right of presenting a clergyman (1463).^[3][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a term of law and church administration.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) knew only the general sense "what may be presented", with a quotation about churches presentable from Ayliffe's Parergon.^[9] The general sense, capable or suitable for being presented to a person or the mind, is recorded from before 1626.^[2][10] The modern sense, fit to be seen in company or of respectable appearance, appears in 1800, in Maria Edgeworth's Eton Montem.^[2][3] From it came presentability (mid-19th century) and presentably (late 19th century).^[7] The legal sense died out by 1897,^[2] and the church sense is now rare.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1451 – in law, liable to be formally presented in court (obsolete after 1897).^[2][5]
• 1463 – of a benefice, to which a clergyman may be presented.^[2][5]
• before 1626 – that can be presented, to a person, to the mind or as a gift.^[2][10]
• 1800 – fit to be seen or introduced into company; of respectable appearance.^[2][3]
• 1828 – of a clergyman, eligible to be presented to a benefice, in Webster's dictionary.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fit to be seen or to meet people; tidy, decent or respectable in appearance: He changed his shirt to look presentable for the interview.^{[11][10][4][2]}
2. Suitable to be offered, shown or put forward; capable of presentation.^{[11][10][4][2]}
3. (ecclesiastical, now rare) Of a benefice: to which a clergyman may be presented.^[4][2][5]
4. (law, obsolete, 1451–1897) Of an offence or offender: liable to presentment.^[2][7][4]

Word family

• presentability
• presentably
• presentableness
• nonpresentable
• unpresentable

Related words

• present
• presentation
• presentment
• presence

References

1. ^ 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 r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin