English
inexplicable
Inexplicable comes from Latin inexplicābilis, from explicābilis ‘explicable’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicō‘to unfold, unfurl, uncoil, loosen, undo’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicābilis‘explicable’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinexplicābilis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inexplicable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inexplicable
- Englishearliest quotation 1656inexplicable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicō‘to unfold, unfurl, uncoil, loosen, undo’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexplicābilis‘explicable’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinexplicābilis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inexplicable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500inexplicable
- Englishearliest quotation 1656inexplicable
Earliest quotation: 1656, Thomas Stanley, [Cleanthes.] Chap[ter] III. His Writings.: “HEE [Cleanthes] left behind him (ſaith [Diogenes] Laertius) theſe…”
Equivalent to in- + explicable
Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
Latin plicō ‘to fold’
Latin explicō ‘unfold, explain’
Latin explicabilis ‘that may be explained, explicable, explainable’
Middle French explicable
English explicable
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’
complex, fiasco, flax, replication, flack, plexus, flagon, 33 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
apply, display, employment, reply, employ, imply, deploy, replica, implicit, ploy, ply, complication, accomplice, complicate, complicity, supple, implicate, supplication, pliable, splay, triplicate, pliant, 21 more
through Latin explicō ‘to unfold, unfurl, uncoil, loosen, undo’
Today it means
adj Impossible to explain; not easily accounted for.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / inexplicable