Invisible

How to spell invisible

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce invisible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does invisible mean?

1. adjectiveUnable to be seen, either physically or because it is hidden from notice.

Invisible in a sentence

• The stain became almost invisible once the carpet dried.

• Poor lighting made the trip hazard practically invisible to drivers.

Where does invisible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin invisibilis, meaning 'that cannot be seen'. It was built from the negative prefix in-, meaning 'not', joined to visibilis, 'able to be seen', which in turn grew from the verb videre, 'to see'. English borrowed it through Old French in the 1300s, keeping the Latin -ible ending rather than the more common English -able. That same videre root quietly powers a whole family of everyday words, including vision, visual, evidence, and supervise. The spelling trap lies in the unstressed middle and the ending: writers reach for -able by habit, but the Latin form fixed it firmly as -ible.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• vis (from videre: to see)
• -ible (able to be)