Etymologically
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understandable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 22:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌʌndəˈstændəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ˌʌndɚˈstændəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It was formed in Middle English from understanden, that is from English understand + -able.[2][3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to understand, capable of understanding: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible;[3][5] Etymonline dates this sense to the late 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The active sense, "able to understand", was the first, as with several early adjectives in -able, and it lasted until the mid-17th century (last recorded 1654).[3][5][4] The passive sense, "that can be understood, intelligible", is recorded from about 1400 in Etymonline[4] and about 1475 in the OED, in the Catholicon Anglicum.[3] Modern dictionaries add a further sense, "to be expected in the circumstances, natural or forgivable", said of feelings and reactions.[7][8][9]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – able to understand (obsolete after 1654).[3]
  • c. 1400 – that can be understood.[4]
  • c. 1475 – intelligible (OED's first example).[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Able to be understood; intelligible or clear: The instructions were short and understandable.
  2. To be expected in the circumstances; natural, reasonable or forgivable: Her nervousness before the exam was understandable.
  3. (obsolete) Able to understand.

Word family

  • understandability
  • understandably

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press