English
liable
Liable comes from Old French lier ‘to bind’, and goes back to Latin ligo.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligo‘to bind, to tie’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lier‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749liable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligo‘to bind, to tie’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lier‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749liable
Earliest quotation: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’
through Latin ligo ‘to bind, to tie’
league, religious, religion, ally, alloy, liaison, ligament, lien, ligand, ligature, religiosity, ligation, obligate, liaise, legato, 14 more
Today it means
adj Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin ligo / liable