English
inconvenient
Inconvenient comes from Middle French inconvenient ‘disadvantage’, from Latin inconveniens ‘unsuitable’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *komgʷəniō ‘to come together’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniō‘to come together’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō‘convene, assemble’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniens‘convening, meeting’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinconveniensas inconvenientem‘unsuitable’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inconvenient‘disadvantage’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komgʷəniō‘to come together’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō‘convene, assemble’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniens‘convening, meeting’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinconveniensas inconvenientem‘unsuitable’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inconvenient‘disadvantage’
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “To provide against this inconvenient, when the Stoikes were…”
Linked words
through Latin conveniō ‘convene, assemble’
convention, convent, coven, convene, 6 more
through Latin conveniens ‘convening, meeting’
Today it means
adj not convenient
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *komgʷəniō / inconvenient