SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
American Heritage Dictionary: legible
Independently documents the Latin reading formation.
Headword etymology- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- American Heritage Dictionary Editors
- YEAR
- 2022
- PUBLISHER
- HarperCollins
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 140
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Did legible begin as a word for general understandability?
The secure formation is literal reading: Late Latin legibilis from legere “to read.” Discernible and understandable are later or extended senses, not the morphological source.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 140
legible
/ˈlɛdʒəbəl/ · adjective
Capable of being read or deciphered; from Late Latin legibilis and Latin legere “to read.”
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
3 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
SOURCE 02supportshistorical dictionary
Legible — Definition, Word History, and First Known Use
Documents legibilis from legere and distinguishes readable from figurative discernibility.
Etymology and definitions- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
SOURCE 03contexthistorical dictionary
Legible — Origin and history
Documents “that can be read” and the late-fourteenth-century horizon.
Headword etymology and chronology- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Online Etymology Dictionary
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster, American Heritage, and Etymonline independently publish the Latin reading formation.
The dossier keeps figurative senses but does not project them backward.