Etymograph

English

medicinable

Medicinable comes from Latin medicīna ‘medicine, remedy, cure’, from medicus ‘doctor, physician’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure, give advice, heal’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-1‘to measure, give advice, heal’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*medos1‘measure’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedeor2‘to heal, cure, remedy, be good for or against a disease’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicus2‘doctor, physician’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicīnus3‘medical’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicīna4‘medicine, remedy, cure’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmedicinabilis4
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400medicinable4uncertain
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603medicinable4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin medeor, which cites LIV
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin medicinus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin medicina
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English medicinable
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “hee by his lawes, inhibiteth[…]the perswasion, that any evill…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*med-Wiktionary, Latin medeor, which cites LIV‘to measure, give advice, heal’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*medosWiktionary, Latin medeor, which cites LIV‘measure’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedeorWiktionary, Latin medicinus‘to heal, cure, remedy, be good for or against a disease’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicusWiktionary, Latin medicinus‘doctor, physician’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicīnusWiktionary, Latin medicina‘medical’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicīnaWiktionary, English medicinable‘medicine, remedy, cure’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEmedicinabilisWiktionary, English medicinable
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400medicinableWiktionary, English medicinableuncertain
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1603medicinableWiktionary, English medicinable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “hee by his lawes, inhibiteth[…]the perswasion, that any evill…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure, give advice, heal’

must, model, modern, mode, mood, mud, mold, module, meditation, blackmail, modal, modus, modulate, mote, mete, moulder, modifiable, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *medos ‘measure’

commodity, modification, mould, modulation, molding, modulus, modicum, modulo, 14 more

through Latin medeor ‘to heal, cure, remedy, be good for or against…’

remedy, meditate, 10 more

through Latin medicus ‘doctor, physician’

medication, med, meth, 11 more

Today it means

adj Medicinal; having healing properties.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “medicinable”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin medeor, Latin medicinus, Latin medicina. 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 *med- / medicinable

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