"I" Word Origins

inflammable

Origin

From Middle French inflammable, from Medieval Latin īnflammābilis, from Latin īnflammāre (“to set on fire”), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”). By surface analysis, inflame + -able, literally “able to be inflamed”.

inflammation

Latin

From Latin inflammatio, built on inflame.

inflammatory

Origin

Built on inflame plus the suffix -atory.

inflatable

Origin

Built on inflate plus the suffix -able.

inflate

Latin

From Latin inflatus, past participle of inflare, "to blow into."

inflation

Latin

From Latin inflatio, "a swelling, blowing up," from inflare — see inflate.

inflect

Origin

From Latin īnflectō, from in- (“in”) + flectō (“to bend”).

inflection

Origin

From older inflexion, borrowed from Middle French inflexion, itself borrowed from Latin inflexiōnem (“alteration”, literally “bending”). The English spelling with ⟨ct⟩ is due to influence from inflect or related words like correction.

inflexibility

Origin

From French inflexibilité, from Old French inflectibilité. Equivalent to in- + flexibility or inflexible + -ity.

inflexible

Latin

From Latin inflexibilis, from in- ("not") plus flexibilis ("flexible").

inflict

Latin

From Latin inflictus, past participle of infligere, "to strike against," from in- plus fligere ("to strike").

infliction

Origin

From Latin īnflīctiōnem (“imposition”), from Latin īnflīctus, from in- + flīctus, past participle of īnflīgō (“to knock or strike against”), from in- + flīgō (“strike”) (whence in-). By surface analysis, inflict + -ion.

inflood

Origin

PIE word *h₁én From in- (prefix meaning ‘in, into; towards’) + flood (“overflow of water from a lake or other body of water; flowing in of the tide; to overflow; to cover or partly fill as if by a flood”). Compare Saterland Frisian Íenfloud (“influence”), West Frisian ynfloed (“influence”), Dutch invloed (“influence”), Middle Low German invlôt (“influence”), German Einfluss (“influence”), Danish indflydelse (“influence”), Swedish inflytande (“influence”), Norwegian innflytelse (“influence”).

inflorescence

Origin

From Latin inflōrēscentia, from inflōrēscō (“to begin to flower”), inchoative verb of flōreō (“to flower”).

inflow

Origin

From Middle English inflowen, equivalent to in- + flow.

influence

Latin

From Old French influence, originally "an emanation from the stars affecting fate," from Latin influere, "to flow into." A doublet of influenza.

influencer

English

Formed from influence plus the agent ending -er.

influent

Origin

From Latin influent-, the present participle stem of īnfluere.

influential

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin influentialis, built on influentia — see influence.

influenza

Latin

Borrowed from Italian influenza, "influence," from Latin influentia — early epidemics were blamed on the "influence" of the stars. A doublet of influence.

influx

Latin

From Latin influxus, "a flowing in," from influere, "to flow into."

info

Origin

A clipped, informal form of information.

infold

Origin

From Middle English infolden, equivalent to in- + fold.

infomercial

Origin

A blend of information and commercial.

inform

Latin

From Old French informer, from Latin informare, "to shape, train, instruct," from in- plus forma ("form").

informal

Origin

From in- ("not") plus formal.

informally

Origin

From informal plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

informant

Origin

From inform plus the agent-noun suffix -ant.

information

Latin

From Old French information, from Latin informatio, "a forming of an idea," from informare — see inform.

informed

Origin

From inform + -ed.

informer

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman enfourmour — the same root as "inform" plus the "-er" agent ending.

infortunate

Origin

The adjective is first attested circa 1390, in Middle English, the verb in 1570; inherited from Middle English infortunat(e), borrowed from Latin infortūnātus, see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Doublet of unfortunate.

INFP

English

An initialism of the four Myers-Briggs preference letters: I for introversion, N for intuition, F for feeling and P for perceiving.

infraction

Latin

From Latin infractio, "a breaking," from the same root as "fracture."

infrared

Origin

From "infra-" ("below") + "red," describing wavelengths just below visible red light.

infrastructure

French

Borrowed from French infrastructure, from "infra-" ("below") + "structure."

infrequency

Origin

From Latin infrequentia (“scantiness”), equivalent to in- + frequency or infrequent + -cy.

infrigidation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin infrigidatio + English -ion.

infringe

Origin

Borrowed from Latin īnfringō, īnfringere (“to break off, break, bruise, weaken, destroy”), from in (“in”) + frangere (“to break”).

infringement

Origin

From "infringe" + the noun-forming suffix "-ment."

infuriate

Origin

First attested in 1667; borrowed from Medieval Latin infuriātus (“enraged”), perfect passive participle of infuriō (“to enrage”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin furia (“rage, fury, frenzy”); perhaps via Italian infuriato.

infuriating

Origin

From "infuriate" + "-ing."

infuscate

Origin

The verb is first attested in 1650, the adjective in 1826; borrowed from Latin īnfuscātus, perfect passive participle of īnfuscō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + fuscō (“to make dark”), from fuscus (“dark”).

infuse

Latin

From Latin infundere, "to pour into."

infuser

Origin

From "infuse" + "-er."

infusion

Latin

From Latin infusio, "a pouring into," from infundere.

ing

Old English

From Old English ing, "a meadow," related to Old Norse eng, still found in northern English place names.

inga

Portuguese

Borrowed via Portuguese from Old Tupi ingá, a name from Indigenous Brazilian languages.