predictable English · revision 39731

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1820, Monthly Repository}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/, /pɹiˈdɪktəbləl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed [[af|en|predict|-able]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) ''Predict'' is from [[la|praedīcō|t=to foretell]], from [[m|la|prae-|t=before]] and [[m|la|dīcō|t=to say]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Able to be predicted or foretold: 1820, in the ''Monthly Repository'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) the mid-19th century in the Shorter Oxford.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used of a person, the adjective means acting in a way that is easy to foresee,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and in later use it often carries a pejorative sense: tiresomely unoriginal or conventional.^(OED 2026) The adverb ''predictably'' in the sense "as could have been predicted" is attested from 1914.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1820 – able to be foretold.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – ''predictably'', as could have been expected.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Able to be [[predict|alt=predicted]] or expected: ''Rainfall here follows a predictable pattern.''^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of a person or thing, behaving or happening in an expected way; often, dull and unoriginal: ''The film's ending was depressingly predictable.''^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[predictably]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[predict]]

+ * [[prediction]]

+ * [[predictor]]

+ * [[unpredictable]]

+ * [[diction]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}