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reliability

Etymology and origin of the English word reliability

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1810

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /rɪˌlaɪ.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/, US /rɪˌlaɪ.əˈbɪl.ə.t̬i/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from reliable and -ity.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being reliable: 1816, in Coleridge, in Etymonline and the OED;[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster gives 1810.[5]

Semantic evolution

A reviewer of Coleridge's Biographia Literaria mocked him for having “even invented a new word, reliability” to praise a friend's punctuality.[2] In statistics, the extent to which a repeated measurement gives the same result is from 1904 in the OED, by 1910 in Etymonline,[3][2] and reliability tests and trials from 1910.[3]

Timeline

  • 1810 – reliability.[5]
  • 1816 – Coleridge's “new word”.[2][3]
  • 1904 – reliability (statistics).[3]
  • 1910 – reliability test.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being reliable; dependability.
  2. (statistics) The extent to which a test or measurement gives the same result when repeated.

Word family

  • nonreliability

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Reliability.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/reliability. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·