English
mutability
Mutability comes from Latin mutabilitas ‘changeableness, mutability’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-1‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtō2‘to change, alter’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtābilis3‘changeable’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutabilitas4‘changeableness, mutability’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mutabilite4
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mutabilite4‘mutability, changeability’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749mutability4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin muto
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin mutabilis
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin mutabilitas
- 4 Wiktionary, English mutability
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “He did indeed account somewhat unfairly for this sudden…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-Wiktionary, Latin muto‘to exchange’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtōWiktionary, Latin mutabilis‘to change, alter’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūtābilisWiktionary, Latin mutabilitas‘changeable’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutabilitasWiktionary, English mutability‘changeableness, mutability’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400mutabiliteWiktionary, English mutability
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500mutabiliteWiktionary, English mutability‘mutability, changeability’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749mutabilityWiktionary, English mutability. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “He did indeed account somewhat unfairly for this sudden…”
Formed from mutable + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
Latin mūtō ‘to change, alter’
Latin mutabilis ‘liable to change’
Old French mutable
Middle English mutable ‘mutable, changeable, variable’
English mutable
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- ‘to exchange’
miss, message, mad, mess, commit, premise, madden, intermittent, omit, misnomer, transmutation, commutation, transmute, 18 more
through Latin mūtō ‘to change, alter’
mute, mutation, mutant, molt, moult, commutative, mutate, 13 more
through Latin mūtābilis ‘changeable’
Today it means
noun The quality or state of being mutable.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “mutability”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin muto, Latin mutabilis, Latin mutabilitas. 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 *meyth₂- / mutability