Considerable

How to spell considerable

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce considerable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does considerable mean?

1. adjectiveNotably large in size, amount, importance, or degree.

Considerable in a sentence

• The renovation cost a considerable amount of money.

• She has considerable experience in corporate law.

Where does considerable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb considerare, which originally meant 'to examine carefully' or 'to observe closely'. Curiously, its deepest root is sidus, sideris, the Latin word for 'star', and many scholars believe the verb first described the way astronomers and augurs studied the night sky before forming a judgement. From that careful 'looking at the stars' grew the broader idea of thinking something over with attention. The verb 'consider' passed into English through Old French in the 1300s, and the adjective 'considerable' followed, first meaning 'worthy of being thought about' and only later shifting to its modern sense of 'large in amount or importance'. The link to sidus also survives in 'sidereal', the astronomy term for anything measured against the stars, which is a neat reminder of where the word began.

How the word is built

• con- (intensive, together)
• sider (from sidus, sideris: star)
• -able (capable of/worthy of)