The Middle English learned form stabilizes as modern legible with later English stress and vowel development.
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP RECORD
COVERAGE LEDGER ↗EDGE / 0448historical continuationestablished
A CLAIM
YOU CAN AUDIT.
A relationship—not a generated explanation. Both endpoints, every editorial field, every citation, and every dossier reuse are preserved below.
legible
capable of being read or deciphered; later also discernible or understandable
OPEN NODE 481 ↗DESCENDS FROM→
PARENT / EARLIER FORM / attestedMiddle English · Middle English, late 14th–15th century · readablelegible
capable of being read
OPEN NODE 482 ↗01
THE COMPLETE RELATIONSHIP
EVERY FIELD, NOT A FAIRY TALE
Literal readability remains primary while discernibility and understandability become figurative extensions.
The sources place English use in the late fourteenth or fifteenth century.
Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors
established — no additional confidence note is attached.
reviewed
02
CITATION REGISTER
SOURCES ON THIS EDGE
Legible — Definition, Word History, and First Known UseWord History and First Known Use
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Documents Middle English ancestry, modern senses, and a fifteenth-century horizon.
American Heritage Dictionary: legibleHeadword definitions and etymology
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently documents literal readability and figurative discernibility.
Legible — Origin and historyHeadword chronology
contextAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Places the English adjective in the late fourteenth century.
03
EDITORIAL REUSE