English
liable
Liable comes from Old French lier ‘to bind’, and goes back to Latin ligo.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligo1‘to bind, to tie’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lier1‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749liable1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English liable
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligoWiktionary, English liable‘to bind, to tie’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lierWiktionary, English liable‘to bind’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749liableWiktionary, English liable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’
through Latin ligo ‘to bind, to tie’
league, religious, religion, ally, alloy, liaison, ligament, lien, ligand, ligature, religiosity, ligation, obligate, liaise, legato, 13 more
Today it means
adj Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “liable”. 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 / Latin ligo / liable