Etymologically
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satisfactory

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Pronunciation

  • /sætɪsˈfækt(ə)ɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin satisfactōrius (“penitential, serving to make atonement”),[2][3][4] perhaps partly also borrowed from Old French satisfactoire.[5][6][7] The Latin adjective is recorded from the 5th century, and in the sense "satisfying" from the 15th;[2] it is formed from satisfactus, the past participle of satisfaciō (“to satisfy; to make amends”), with the suffix -ōrius.[2][3][4] The verb, the source of satisfy, is formed from satis (“enough”) and faciō (“to make, do”), so it meant literally "to do enough".[5][8] Ayto relates satis to sad, sated and saturate.[8] The French adjective is recorded from the early 14th century for what serves as atonement, and for "adequate" from 1530.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of acts of penance, or of the sufferings of Christ: serving as atonement for sin.[2][5] The first record is in Reginald Pecock's Reule of Crysten Religioun, about 1443;[2] Etymonline dates satisfactorie "expiatory" to the mid-15th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

The theological sense, now archaic, was the only one for over a century.[2][3][7] The everyday senses followed: "adequate, sufficient for the situation" from 1576 in the OED, and "pleasing, gratifying" from 1640;[2] Etymonline dates them later, to the 1630s and 1660s,[5] and the Oxford Dictionary of English places the current senses in the mid-17th century.[7] Shorter-lived senses were "serving to discharge a debt" (1602–1806) and, in Bacon (1605), of an explanation that only satisfies the questioner without real substance.[2] In British law, from 1768, a satisfactory verdict is one that can stand on appeal.[2] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "giving satisfaction; giving content", quoting Locke.[9] The noun had two rare 16th-century uses, a place or means of atonement and a person doing penance for another,[2] and since 1875 a satisfactory has been a mark or rating for adequate work.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1443 – serving as atonement for sin.[2]
  • 1531 – noun, a place or means of atonement (obsolete).[2]
  • 1576 – adequate, sufficient; of an argument, convincing.[2]
  • 1602 – serving to discharge a debt (obsolete by 1806).[2]
  • 1640 – pleasing, gratifying.[2]
  • 1768 – in law, of a verdict, able to stand.[2]
  • 1875 – noun, a mark showing that work is satisfactory.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Good enough for a purpose; adequate or acceptable: The inspector found the wiring satisfactory.[10][3][2]
  2. Giving satisfaction; pleasing.[10][2]
  3. (of an argument or evidence) Convincing.[3][2]
  4. (law, chiefly British) Of a verdict, able to stand on appeal.[2]
  5. (archaic) Making atonement or expiation for sin.[10][3][2]

Noun

  1. A mark or rating showing that something is satisfactory.[2]

Word family

  • satisfactorily
  • satisfactoriness
  • dissatisfactory

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 v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins