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unbearable

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Etymology and origin of the English word unbearable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1449 Pecock's Repressor
Ultimate origin
Old English beran
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old English beran
English bear
English unbearable
From the same root
English bearer ← beran
English berth ← beran
English bugbear ← bear

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ʌnˈbeərəb(ə)l/, /ʌmˈbeərəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ʌnˈberəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unberable,[2][3][4] formed from English un- + bearable.[5][4][6][3] Merriam-Webster takes the verb beren (“to bear”) itself as its base, with both affixes.[2] bear is from Old English beran.[4] Old English had a word of the same meaning, unberendlic.[4] The OED's first record of unbearable (about 1449) is a few years earlier than that of bearable (about 1454).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not able to be endured, intolerable: about 1449, in Reginald Pecock's Repressor, of a man who must live in "huge unbearable pain".[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since Pecock, who used the word several times.[3][5] Its base bearable meant at first "able to be felt" (about 1454) and "able to be carried" (before 1557), and only from 1656 "able to be endured", so the negative form had the modern sense first.[5] The noun unbearableness is recorded from the mid-18th century and the adverb unbearably from the early 19th.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1449 – intolerable, unendurable.[5][3]
  • mid 18th century – unbearableness.[6]
  • early 19th century – unbearably.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Too painful or unpleasant to be endured; intolerable: The noise from the building site was unbearable.[7][2][5]

Word family

  • unbearableness
  • unbearably

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Unbearable.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/unbearable. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·