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Origin and history of apt

apt(adj.)

mid-14c., "inclined, disposed;" late 14c., "suited, fitted, adapted, possessing the necessary qualities for the purpose," from Old French ate "fitting, suitable, appropriate" (13c., Modern French apte), or directly from Latin aptus "fit, suited, proper, appropriate," adjectival use of past participle of *apere "to attach, join, tie to." This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *ap- (1) "to grasp, take, reach" (source also of Sanskrit apnoti "he reaches," Latin apisci "to reach after, attain," Hittite epmi "I seize"). The elliptical sense of "becoming, appropriate" is from 1560s.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to apt

adapt(v.)

early 15c. (implied in adapted) "to fit (something, for some purpose)," from Old French adapter (14c.), from Latin adaptare "adjust, fit to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + aptare "to join," from aptus "fitted" (see apt). Intransitive meaning "to undergo modification so as to fit new circumstances" is from 1956. Related: Adapting.

adaptation(n.)

c. 1600, "action of adapting (something to something else)," from French adaptation, from Late Latin adaptationem (nominative adaptatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of adaptare "to adjust," from ad "to" (see ad-) + aptare "to join," from aptus "fitted" (see apt).

The meaning "condition of being adapted, state of being fitted to circumstances or relations" is from 1670s. The sense of "modification of a thing to suit new conditions" is from 1790. The biological sense of "variations in a living thing to suit changed conditions" is by 1859, in Darwin's writings.

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Trends of apt

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

adept
1690s, "completely skilled, well-versed," from Latin adeptus "having reached or attained," past participle of adipisci "to come up with, arrive at," figuratively "to attain to, acquire," from ad "to" (see ad-) + apisci "to grasp, attain" (related to aptus "fitted," from PIE root
apex
"the tip, point, or summit" of anything, c. 1600, from Latin apex "summit, peak, tip, top, extreme end;" which is plausibly related to apere "to fasten, fix," hence "the tip of anything" (one of the meanings of apex in Latin was "small rod at the top of the flamen's cap"), and th
given
late 14c., "allotted, predestined," past-participle adjective from give (v.). From 1560s as "admitted, supposed, allowed as a supposition." From late 14c. as "disposed, addicted." Middle English also had a noun give, yeve "that which is given or offered freely." The modern noun s
habiliment
abiller "prepare or fit out," probably from abile, habile "fit, suitable," from Latin habilem, habilis "easily handled, apt...
contagious
Figuratively applied to anything apt to spread from one to another (rumor, etc.) from 1650s....
pseudo-science
Pseudognosy would be better etymology, but the unlearned might be apt to association with it the idea of a dog's nose, and...
deft
"apt or dexterous, subtly clever or skillful," mid-15c., from Old English gedæfte, which meant "mild, gentle, simple, meek...
liable
mid-15c., "bound or obliged by law," from Old French lier, liier "to bind, tie up, fasten, tether; bind by obligation" (12c.), from Latin ligare "to bind, to tie" (from PIE root *leig- "to tie, bind"). With -able. Perhaps it is from an Anglo-French *liable, or from an unattested
clever
1580s, "handy, dexterous, having special manual ability," apparently from East Anglian dialectal cliver "expert at seizing," perhaps from East Frisian klüfer "skillful," or Norwegian dialectic klover "ready, skillful," and perhaps influenced by Old English clifer "claw, hand" (ea
bimbo
a word of vague etymology, perhaps a convergence of two or more words, given wide application in late 19c. and settling into its main modern meaning "floozie" from early 1920s, with a revival in 1980s. Bimbo first appears as the name of an alcoholic punch, mentioned in newspapers

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