visibility English · revision 39823

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la videō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˌvɪz.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/, /ˌvɪz.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|vīsibilitās|t=the condition of being seen, conspicuousness]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) a word used by Tertullian,^(OED 2026) formed on [[m|la|vīsibilis|t=that can be seen]], the source of [[visible]], with the noun suffix that became [[-ity]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The Latin adjective comes from [[m|la|videō|t=to see]].^(Etymonline) The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English also allow a borrowing of [[m|fr|visibilité]],^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) and Johnson (1755) took it from the French word.^(Johnson 1755) The OED compares [[m|fro|visibleté]], [[m|it|visibilità]] and [[m|es|visibilidad]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The condition of being visible: Etymonline dates the form ''visibilite'' to about 1400,^(Etymonline) the Shorter Oxford to late Middle English,^(SOED 2002) and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century.^(MWU 2024) The OED's first quotation, from 1581, speaks of the visibility of the Church,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1575–85.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The 16th-century quotations come from the Reformation debate over whether the true Church must always be visible in the world;^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) still illustrates the sense "openly discoverable, conspicuousness" with the ''perpetual visibility of the church''.^(Johnson 1755) From 1614 the word was used of things in general,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) while the sense "a visible thing" dates from 1628.^(OED 2026) Johnson used it in 1775 for a sight worth seeing, a sense now obsolete.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) The rare senses "appearance" (1669, in Bunyan) and "the faculty of sight" (1616–1733) did not last.^(OED 2026) The meteorological and naval sense, how far one can see under the conditions of light and weather, is recorded from 1914,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and the figurative sense, prominence in the public eye, from 1958.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – ''visibilite'', the condition of being visible.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1581 – the visibility of the Church.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1614 – of things in general.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1628 – a visible thing.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1914 – the distance at which things can be seen in given conditions.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1958 – prominence in public awareness.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state or quality of being [[visible]]; how easily something can be seen: ''Reflective strips improve the visibility of runners at night.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The greatest distance at which objects can be clearly seen, as affected by [[light]] and [[weather]]: ''Fog cut visibility on the motorway to fifty metres.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The degree to which someone or something attracts public notice; [[prominence]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[intervisibility]]

+ * [[nonvisibility]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[visible]]

+ * [[vision]]

+ * [[invisibility]]

+ * [[evident]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}