unable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʌnˈeɪ.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + able in Middle English,^[2][3][4] perhaps modelled on Old French inhabile or Latin inhabilis.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not able, lacking the power to do something: about 1380 in the OED,^[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline, where it is first used of persons.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In early use it also meant incompetent, inefficient, from 1395,^[6] and unfit or unqualified for a position, from about 1380, now obsolete.^[6] “Lacking physical strength”, weak, is from the 1570s,^[2] and in this sense it was later mainly Scottish:^[3] in Galloway a man shot in the thigh was “unable of his legs”.^[7] A verb unable, to make unfit or incapacitate, is also from about 1380, and is long rare.^[6][5]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – not able; also verb, to incapacitate.^[6]
• 1395 – incompetent.^[6]
• 1570s – physically weak.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Lacking the power, means or authority to do something; not able.
2. Lacking ability; incompetent or helpless.

Related words

• inability
• able
• disable
• enable

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 Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University 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)