Adorable
/əˈdɔːr.ə.bəl/noun
Inspiring great affection or delight.
Did you know?Adorable ultimately comes from Latin adorāre, meaning “to worship” or “to pray to,” from ad- (“to”) + ōrāre (“to speak/pray”), so its oldest energy is reverence, not sweetness.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*or-
“to speak, pray”
Latin
Latin
ōrāre
“to speak, plead, pray”
Latin
Latin
adorāre
“to worship, pray to, entreat”
Late Latin / Old French
Old French
adorable
“worthy of worship; to be adored”
16th Century
English
adorable
“worthy of worship or admiration”
Modern English
English
adorable
“inspiring great affection or delight”