Etymologically
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incredibilis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word incredibilis

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (crēdō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin incredibilis
English incredible

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪŋ.kreːˈdɪ.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iŋ.kreˈdiː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

incrēdibilis (neuter incrēdibile, adverb incrēdibiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + crēdibilis (“believable”),[2][3] with the negative prefix and crēdibilis, from crēdō “to believe”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Rudens, has a fisherman say an amazing and incredible catch came to him.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant hard or impossible to believe, as Terence's incredible tales and Cicero's new and incredible kind of wrong, and then extraordinary, unparalleled, as Cicero speaks of an incredible, almost divine power of genius.[2][5] With a supine it formed phrases like incrēdibile dictū “incredible to say”.[6] In Plautus it may mean of a person not to be believed, or else disbelieving.[2]

In medieval Latin it also meant not worthy of belief and unbelieving.[7][8] English incredible is recorded in the early 15th century.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an incredible catch.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of incredible tales.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of extraordinary qualities.[5][4]
  • early 15th century – English incredible is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unbelievable, incredible.[2][1]
  2. Extraordinary, unparalleled.[5][9]
  3. Not to be believed, unreliable.[2][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Unbelieving.[7]

Word family

  • incrēdibilitās

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Incredibilis.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incredibilis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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