English
unacceptable
Unacceptable comes from Middle English unacceptabylle, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂p-root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unacceptabylle
- Englishearliest quotation 1989unacceptable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂p-root as named · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500unacceptabylle
- Englishearliest quotation 1989unacceptable
Earliest quotation: 1989, Walter A. Henry, Michael Menasco: “Second, the data collected using CASEMAP afford us the…”
Formed from un- + acceptable
Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not, un-’
Proto-Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’
Proto-West Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’
English un-
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
…
Latin acceptō
Late Latin acceptābilis ‘worthy of acceptance’
Middle French acceptable
Middle English acceptable ‘Pleasant, agreeable’
English acceptable
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p-
principal, princess, receiver, participant, receipt, receptor, incapable, inception, interception, princely, recuperate, recuperation, perceptive, incipient, misbehave, occupier, 9 more
Today it means
adj Unsatisfactory; not acceptable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- / unacceptable