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admirabilis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word admirabilis

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (mīrus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ad.miːˈraː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ad.miˈraː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

admīrābilis (neuter admīrābile, comparative admīrābilior, adverb admīrābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from admīror “to wonder at” with the suffix -bilis.[2][1][3] The TLL notes it is rare outside Cicero, Valerius Maximus and Quintilian.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It meant astonishing, remarkable, and admīrābile est it is remarkable that, as in Cicero.[2] In Cicero it meant worthy of admiration, wonderful, as admīrābilis in dīcendō vir “a man admirable in speaking” and ō clēmentiam admīrābilem.[2][6][7] In Cicero it also meant contrary to common opinion, paradoxical, rendering Greek Ancient Greek παράδοξος (parádoxos).[2][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant wonderful, admirable.[8] It was borrowed into French and Spanish admirable and Italian ammirabile, and English admirable came in the mid-15th century.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the admirable and the paradoxical.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.[4][5]
  • mid-15th century – English admirable is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Astonishing, remarkable.[2]
  2. Wonderful, admirable.[2]
  3. Paradoxical.[2]

Word family

  • admīrābilitās
  • admīrābiliter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Admirabilis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/admirabilis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·