visible | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

98 entries found.

mid-14c., from Old French visable, visible "perceptible" (12c.) and directly from Latin visibilis "that may be seen," from visus, past participle of videre "to see" (see vision). An Old English word for this was eagsyne. Related: Visibly.

imprevisible (adj.)

"that cannot be foreseen," 1855, from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + previsible (see pre- + visible). Related: Imprevision; imprevisibility.

visibility (n.)

c. 1400, "condition of being visible," from Late Latin visibilitatem (nominative visibilitas) "condition of being seen; conspicuousness," from visibilis (see visible). Meaning "range of vision under given conditions" is from 1914. Sense of "prominence, fame, public attention" is recorded from 1958.

invisible (adj.)

mid-14c., "not perceptible to sight, incapable of being seen," from Old French invisible (13c.), from Latin invisibilis "unseen, not visible," from in- "not" (see in- (1)) + visibilis (see visible). Meaning "kept out of sight" is from 1640s. As a noun, "things invisible," from 1640s. Invisible Man is from H.G. Wells's novel (1897); invisible ink is from 1680s. Related: Invisibly.

macroscopic (adj.)

"visible to the naked eye," 1841, from macro- + ending from microscopic. Related: Macroscopical; macroscopically.

phanero-

before vowels phaner-, word-forming element meaning "visible, manifest," especially from 18c. in biology, from Greek phaneros "visible, manifest, evident, apparent," from phainein "bring to light, cause to appear, show," from PIE root *bha- (1) "to shine." Opposed to crypto-.

invisibility (n.)

1560s, from Late Latin invisibilitas, from Latin invisibilis "not visible, unseen" (see invisible).

features (n.)

"parts of the visible body" (especially the face), c. 1300, from feature (n.).

black-light (n.)

"light rays beyond the visible spectrum," 1927, from black (adj.) + light (n.).

microscope (n.)

"optical instrument which by means of a lens or lenses magnifies and renders visible minute objects or details of visible bodies," 1650s, from Modern Latin microscopium, literally "an instrument for viewing what is small;" see micro- + -scope. The dim southern constellation Microscopium was among those introduced by La Caille in 1752.

Trending words