"I" Word Origins

intruder

Origin

From intrude + -er.

intrusion

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin intrūsiō, from Latin intrūdō, "to thrust in."

intrusive

Origin

A back-formation from intrusion, + -ive.

intubate

Origin · 1612

From in- + tube + -ate; first recorded around 1612.

intubation

Origin · 1880

Likely coined in the 1880s by physician Joseph O'Dwyer.

intuition

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin intuitiō, "a looking at, immediate cognition," from Latin intueor, "to look at, consider."

intuitive

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin intuitivus, from Latin intueri, "to look at."

intumescence

Origin

See intumescent.

inturgescence

Origin

From Latin inturgescens, present participle of inturgescere (“to swell up”), equivalent to in- + turgescence. See turgescent.

Inuit

Origin

From Inuktitut ᐃᓄᐃᑦ (inuit), meaning "the people," singular ᐃᓄᒃ (inuk, "person").

inundate

Latin

From Latin inundare 'to overflow', from in- 'into' plus unda 'wave'.

inundation

Origin

From Old French inundacion (“flood”) (French inondation), from Latin inundatio (“flood”), form of inundō (“to flood, overflow”) (English inundate). By surface analysis, inundat(e) + -ion.

inutile

Origin

From Middle French inutile, from Latin inutilis. Philippine usage is likely from Tagalog inutil, from Spanish inútil, from the same source. By surface analysis, in- + utile.

inutility

Origin

From in- + utility, from Latin inutilitas.

inutterable

Origin

From in- + utterable.

invade

Latin

From Latin invādō, "to enter, invade."

invader

Origin

From invade + -er.

invalid

Latin

From in- ("not") + valid, from Latin validus ("strong").

invalidate

Origin

First attested in 1649; borrowed from Middle French invalider, from invalide + -er. By surface analysis, in- + validate or invalid + -ate.

invalidation

Origin

From invalidate + -ion or in- + validation.

invalidness

Origin

From invalid + -ness.

invaluable

Origin

From in- + valuable, on the pattern of "priceless" — literally meaning too valuable to price, not "lacking value."

invariably

Origin

From invariable + -ly.

invasion

Late Latin

From Late Latin invāsiō, from invādō, "to invade."

invasive

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin invāsīvus, from invāsus, past participle of invādō, "to invade."

invective

Latin

From Latin invectivus 'abusive', from invehi 'to attack with words', literally 'to be carried into'.

inveigh

Origin

Borrowed from Latin invehō (“bring in, carry in”), from in- + vehō (“carry”). Compare vehicle, invective.

inveigle

Origin

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman enveugler, alteration of aveugler (“to blind, to delude”), from Old French avogle (“without eyes”), from Late Latin ab oculīs (“without eyes”, literally “away from the eyes”). The in- might be by analogy to variation between a- and en- in other French words, which was then latinised into in-. For the pronunciation with /iː/, compare the development of people; that with /eɪ/ is presumably a spelling pronunciation.

invent

Latin

From Latin inveniō, "to come upon, find, discover," from in- + veniō ("come").

invention

Latin

From Latin inventiō, from inveniō, "to discover, find, invent."

inventive

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin inventivus, from Latin inveniō, "to invent."

inventor

Latin

Borrowed from Latin inventor.

inventory

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin inventōrium, from Latin inveniō, "to find out."

inveracity

Origin

From in- + veracity.

Inverness

Origin

The city's name comes from Inver- ("mouth of a river") + Ness, from the River Ness; the coat is named after the city.

inverse

Latin

From Latin inversus, past participle of invertere, "to invert," from in- + vertere ("to turn").

inversely proportional

Latin

From Latin inversus 'turned upside down' plus proportio 'a share or relation'.

inversion

Latin

From Latin inversiō, from invertere, "to invert."

inversionism

Origin

From inversion + -ism.

invert

Origin

From Middle French invertir.

invest

Latin

From Middle French investir, ultimately from Latin investire, "to clothe or cover" (in- + vestire, "to dress" — related to "vest"). The money sense grew out of the idea of "clothing" your capital in a venture, arriving in English via Italian investire.

investigate

Latin

From Latin investigare, "to track or search into" (in- + vestigare, "to track," from vestigium, "footprint" — the same root as "vestige").

investigation

Middle English

From Middle English investigacioun, from Old French investigacion, from Latin investigatio. Morphologically investigate + -ion.

investigator

Latin

Attested in the mid‐16th century; from Latin investigator, from investigare, equivalent to investigate + -or.

investiture

Origin

From Middle French investiture, from Medieval Latin investītūra, from investīre (“to clothe”).

inveterate

Origin

The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1574; borrowed from Latin inveterātus (“of long standing, chronic”), perfect passive participle of inveterō and participial adjective (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in, into”) + veterō (“to age”), from vetus, veteris (“old”). Cognate with Italian inveterato, French invétéré. By surface analysis, in- (“not, opposite”) + veterate.

invidious

Origin

Borrowed from Latin invidiōsus, from invidia (“envy, ill will”), from in- (“upon”) + videō (“to see”); the meaning developed from “look back at” to “look askance at” to “envy.” Doublet of envious, from Old French.

invigilate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin invigilātus, past participle of invigilō (“to stay awake, watch over”).