remarkable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈmɑː.kə.bl̩/ (UK); /ɹɪˈmɑɹ.kə.bl̩/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French remarquable (16th century), or formed in English from the verb remark and -able,^[2][3] from remarquer (“to take note of”).^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Worthy of notice; hence extraordinary or unusual: 1604 in the OED,^[6] about 1604 in MWU,^[4] about 1600 in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th and 18th centuries it also meant merely perceptible (1622) or conspicuous (1726), senses now obsolete.^[6][3] From the 17th to the 19th century remarkables were noteworthy things or events,^[2][6] a noun still used in Scots.^[7]

Timeline

• 1604 – worthy of notice, extraordinary.^[6][4]
• 1622 – perceptible (obsolete).^[6]
• 1639 – a remarkable thing, as a noun.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Worthy of notice or attention.
2. Unusual or extraordinary; striking.

Word family

• remarkableness
• remarkably
• remarkability

Related words

• remark
• mark
• noteworthy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)