English
mutable
Mutable comes from Latin mutabilis ‘liable to change’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘to change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutabilis‘liable to change’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mutable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘mutable, changeable, variable’
- Englishearliest quotation 1531same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō‘to change, alter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutabilis‘liable to change’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mutable
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘mutable, changeable, variable’
- Englishearliest quotation 1531same form
Earliest quotation: 1531, Thomas Elyot, Of Constance or Stabilitie: “Vndoughtedly constaunce is an honourable vertue, as inconstance is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
miss, message, mad, mess, commit, premise, madden, intermittent, omit, misnomer, transmutation, commutation, transmute, 18 more
through Latin mūtō ‘to change, alter’
commute, mute, mutation, mutant, molt, moult, commutative, mutate, 13 more
Today it means
adj Changeable, dynamic, evolutive; inclined to change, evolve, mutate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- / mutable