Etymograph

English

responsible

Responsible is borrowed from Middle French responsable, from Old French responsable, formed from Latin responsus, from respondeō ‘to answer’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErespondeō1‘to reply, answer’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresponsus1‘replied’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400responsable1
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600responsable1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1899responsible1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English responsible
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1899, The Harlequin: “Were this not so, long since would we have…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErespondeōWiktionary, English responsible‘to reply, answer’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresponsusWiktionary, English responsible‘replied’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400responsableWiktionary, English responsible
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600responsableWiktionary, English responsible
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1899responsibleWiktionary, English responsible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1899, The Harlequin: “Were this not so, long since would we have…”

The story

The spelling of the English word is taken from the Old French variant responsible.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with responsible, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *spend- ‘to libate’

  • espouse ← espousen ← espouser ← spōnsāre

through Latin spondeō ‘promise’

through Latin respondeō ‘to reply, answer, respond’

25 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Having the duty of taking care of something; answerable for an act performed or for its consequences; accountable; amenable, especially legally or politically.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “responsible”. 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 respondeō / responsible