suitable

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsuː.tə.bəl/, /ˈsjuː.tə.bəl/, US /ˈsuː.t̬ə.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the verb suit and -able,^[2][3] on the pattern of agreeable.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Matching, of furniture, dress and the like: 1581 in MWU, 1582 in the OED, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[3][6][2] A rare sense “suable” is recorded in the mid-16th century.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Of persons, actions and conditions, conforming or agreeing is from 1592,^[6] and fitted to a person's character or needs, appropriate, from 1607.^[6] The matching sense was obsolete by the early 18th century.^[4] Earlier English had suit-like (1560s), and Middle English suitly “so as to match”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1581 – matching.^[3]
• 1592 – in agreement with.^[6]
• 1607 – appropriate.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Right or appropriate for a particular purpose, person or occasion.

Word family

• suitability
• suitably
• suitableness
• unsuitable

Related words

• suit

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
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