Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "visible" come from? It comes from Latin visibilis, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "visible" come from? It comes from Latin visibilis, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Visible’s story begins in Latin: visibilis meant “able to be seen.” From 'videre', to see. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as visible. Latin 'visibilis' came from 'videre', to see; the sense 'publicly prominent' is from the 1950s. It reached English by 1300s as visible. 'invisible ink' dates from the 1600s. Today, visible means able to be seen.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient visibilis "able to be seen", from 'videre', to see.
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval visible "visible", Latin 'visibilis' came from 'videre', to see; the sense 'publicly prominent' is from the 1950s.
- Stage 3 · English · 1300s visible "seeable", 'invisible ink' dates from the 1600s.