Adequate
/ˈæd.ɪ.kwət/noun
Sufficient or acceptable for a particular purpose.
Did you know?Adequate ultimately comes from Latin adaequare, a verb built from ad- (“to, toward”) + aequare (“to make equal”), and the same ancient root behind equal and equate is the PIE idea of “evenness” and “leveling.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁ey-
“to go, move; in later formations, the sense of making even or matching”
Latin
Latin
aequus
“even, level, equal, fair”
Latin
Latin
aequare
“to make equal, level”
Latin
Latin
adaequatus
“made equal, brought up to par”
Late Latin / Medieval Latin
Latin
adequatus
“made sufficient or suitable”
Middle French
Old French
adequat
“adequate, fitting, sufficient”
Modern English
English
adequate
“sufficient or acceptable for a purpose”