Etymograph

English

appetible

Appetible comes from Latin appetibilis ‘worthy of desire, desirable’, from appetō ‘to strive for, reach after (something), try to…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-1‘to spread out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péth₂eti1‘to fly’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetō1‘to make for (somewhere)’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappetō1‘to strive for, reach after (something), try to get’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappetibilis2‘worthy of desire, desirable’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1655appetible2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin appetibilis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English appetible
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, John Bramhall: “my answer doth sufficiently prove that which I intend…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peth₂-Wiktionary, Latin appetibilis‘to spread out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péth₂etiWiktionary, Latin appetibilis‘to fly’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetōWiktionary, Latin appetibilis‘to make for (somewhere)’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappetōWiktionary, Latin appetibilis‘to strive for, reach after (something), try to get’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappetibilisWiktionary, English appetible‘worthy of desire, desirable’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1655appetibleWiktionary, English appetible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1655, John Bramhall: “my answer doth sufficiently prove that which I intend…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’

pass, expansion, mile, expand, patent, pen, helicopter, feather, symptom, spawn, expanse, pennant, pinion, patina, patella, pata, penna, 80 more

through Proto-Indo-European *péth₂eti ‘to fly’

competent, repetition, 12 more

through Latin petō ‘to make for (somewhere)’

repeat, compete, petition, competitor, perpetual, impetus, perpetuate, perpetuity, petulant, impetuous, petulance, 14 more

Today it means

adj Desirable; capable or worthy of being the object of desire.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “appetible”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin appetibilis. 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-Indo-European *peth₂- / appetible

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