Etymograph

English

breakable

Breakable comes from English break.

  1. English1500–presentbreak1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1942breakable1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English breakable
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Emily Carr, Ways of Getting Round: “Next Christmas she sent us bisque dolls, very lovely…”.

Lineage

  1. English1500–presentbreakWiktionary, English breakable
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1942breakableWiktionary, English breakable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Emily Carr, Ways of Getting Round: “Next Christmas she sent us bisque dolls, very lovely…”

A compound of break + -able

Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’

…

Proto-Germanic *brekaną ‘to break’

Proto-West Germanic *brekan ‘to break’

Old English brecan ‘to break’

Middle English breken ‘to break up or split’

English break

Linked words

through English break

bruck, 3 more

Today it means

adj Able to break or be broken.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “breakable”. 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 / English break / breakable

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