Etymograph

English

accessible

Accessible comes from Late Latin accēdō ‘approach’, from Latin cēdō ‘to move, yield’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kezdō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to move, yield’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccēdō2‘approach’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccessus2perfect passive participle of accēdō
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccessibilis2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861accessible2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin accedo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English accessible
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Secon: “The materials, however, which are at present accessible, are…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kezdōWiktionary, Latin accedoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, Latin accedo‘to move, yield’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccēdōWiktionary, English accessible‘approach’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccessusWiktionary, English accessibleperfect passive participle of accēdō
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccessibilisWiktionary, English accessible
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861accessibleWiktionary, English accessible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Secon: “The materials, however, which are at present accessible, are…”

Formed from access + -ible

Middle English accesse

English access

first attested First attested in 1400, from French, from Late Latin accessibilis, from accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (“approach”), equivalent to access + -ible (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1400, from French, from Late Latin accessibilis, from accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (‘approach’), equivalent to access + -ible.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *kezdō

excessive, successor, succession, successive, procession, recessive, precession, 11 more

through Latin cēdō ‘to move, yield’

process, necessary, success, procedure, succeed, cease, excess, precedent, predecessor, concede, recession, recess, concession, cessation, secession, cede, intercession, 30 more

through Late Latin accēdō ‘approach’

accede, 5 more

Today it means

adj Easy of access or approach.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “accessible”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin accedo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kezdō / accessible

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