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Origin and history of mutable

mutable(adj.)

late 14c., "liable to change," from Latin mutabilis "changeable," from mutare "to change," from PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move," with derivatives referring to the exchange of goods and services as regulated by custom or law (compare Latin mutuus "done in exchange").

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to mutable

mutability(n.)

late 14c., "tendency to change, inconstancy," from Old French mutabilité, from Latin mutabilitas, from mutabilis "changeable" (see mutable).

It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow,
   The path of its departure still is free;
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
   Nought may endure but Mutability. 
[Shelley, from "Mutability," 1816]
*mei-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to change, go, move," "with derivatives referring to the exchange of goods and services within a society as regulated by custom or law" [Watkins].

It might form all or part of: amiss; amoeba; azimuth; common; commune; communicate; communication; communism; commute; congee; demean; emigrate; emigration; excommunicate; excommunication; immune; immutable; incommunicado; mad; mean (adj.1) "low-quality;" mew (n.2) "cage;" mews; migrate; migration; mis- (1) "bad, wrong;" mistake; Mithras; molt; Mstislav; municipal; munificent; mutable; mutant; mutate; mutation; mutatis mutandis; mutual; permeable; permeate; permutation; permute; remunerate; remuneration; transmutation; transmute; zenith.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit methati "changes, alternates, joins, meets;" Avestan mitho "perverted, false;" Hittite mutai- "be changed into;" Latin mutare "to change," meare "to go, pass," migrare "to move from one place to another," mutuus "done in exchange;" Old Church Slavonic mite "alternately;" Czech mijim "to go by, pass by," Polish mijać "avoid;" Gothic maidjan "to change."

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    Trends of mutable

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    pupil
    [student], late 14c., "orphan child, ward, person under the care of a guardian," from Old French pupille (14c.) and directly from Latin pupillus (fem. pupilla) "orphan child, ward, minor," diminutive of pupus "boy" (fem. pupa "girl"), probably related to puer "child" (and thus pr
    endeavor
    early 15c., "pains taken to attain an object," literally "in duty," from phrase put (oneself) in dever "make it one's duty" (a partial translation of Old French mettre en deveir "put in duty"), from Old French dever "duty," from Latin debere "to owe," originally, "keep something
    Islam
    "religious system revealed by Muhammad," 1816, from Arabic islam, literally "submission" (to the will of God), from root of aslama "he resigned, he surrendered, he submitted," causative conjunction of salima "he was safe," and related to salam "peace." ... Islam is the only majo
    blatant
    coined 1596 by Edmund Spenser in "The Faerie Queen," in blatant beast, a thousand-tongued monster representing slander; perhaps primarily an alliterative word, but perhaps suggested by Latin blatire "to babble." It entered general use by 1650s as "noisy in an offensive and vulgar
    protagonist
    1670s, "principal character in a story, drama, etc.," from Greek prōtagōnistēs "actor who plays the chief or first part," from prōtos "first" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, first, chief") + agōnistēs "actor, competitor," from agōn "contest" (from PIE root
    potential
    late 14c., "possible" (as opposed to actual), "capable of being or becoming," from Old French potenciel and directly from Medieval Latin potentialis "potential," from Latin potentia "power, might, force;" figuratively "political power, authority, influence," from potens "powerful
    Aryan
    c. 1600, as a term in classical history, from Latin Arianus, Ariana, from Greek Aria, Areia, names applied in classical times to the eastern part of ancient Persia and to its inhabitants. Ancient Persians used the name in reference to themselves (Old Persian ariya-), hence Iran.
    ghost
    Old English gast "breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon; person, man, human being," in Biblical use "soul, spirit, life," from Proto-West Germanic *gaistaz (source also of Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist "spirit, ghost"). This i
    riffraff
    also riff-raff, late 15c., "persons of disreputable character or low degree," from earlier rif and raf (Anglo-French rif et raf) "one and all, everybody; every scrap, everything," also "sweepings, refuse, things of small value" (mid-14c.), from Old French rif et raf, from rifler
    counsel
    c. 1200, "advice or instruction given;" c. 1300, "mutual advising or interchange of opinions, consultation," from Old French counseil "advice, counsel; deliberation, thought" (10c.), from Latin consilium "plan, opinion," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) +

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