English
explainable
Explainable comes from Latin explanō ‘to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear,…’, from plānus ‘level, flat, even’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘level, flat, even’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplanō‘to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain’
- Englishtodayexplainable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥h₂nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plānosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplānus‘level, flat, even’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplanō‘to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain’
- Englishtodayexplainable
Formed from explain + -able
Latin plānus ‘level, plain’
Latin plānō ‘to flatten’
Latin explānō ‘to make plain, explain’
Old French explaner
Middle English explanen
English explain
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
field, floor, planet, palm, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, playa, placenta, flounder, palatine, placate, polonium, pelagic, plantar, lech, flay, veld, floe, purdah, implacable, planta, 48 more
through Proto-Italic *plānos
through Latin plānus ‘level, flat, even’
through Latin explanō ‘to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear,…’
Today it means
adj Able to be explained or understood
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / explainable