attainable

/əˈteɪnəbəl/uh-TAY-nuh-buhl

Meaningable to be attained

Common meaning: able to be attained (inferred)

atto, towardsSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 30 · scan
tainto touchLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1840 · scan
ableable to be

‘to, towards’ + ‘to touch’ → attainable

Journey through time

Latinad- + tangere‘to, towards + to touch’source
Latinattingeresource
Old Frenchateindresource
Middle Englishattainensource
Englishattain‘to reach’
Englishformed in English from attainattainable‘able to be attained (inferred)’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: able to be attained. It can be inferred from any of: attain.

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from attain + -able (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Roots

attingere Latin “to touch upon”
tangō, tetigī, tāctum Latin “to touch”

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