accessible

English

Etymology

First attested in 1400, from French, from Late Latin accessibilis, from accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (“approach”), equivalent to access +‎ -ible.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /əkˈsɛs.ə.bəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

accessible (comparative more accessible, superlative most accessible)

1. Easy of access or approach. [from 1640s]

   Synonym: approachable

   an accessible town or mountain

   • 1926, A[rthur] [S]tanley Eddington, “Survey of the Problem”, in The Internal Constitution of the Stars, page 1:

     At first sight it would seem that the deep interior of the sun and stars is less accessible to scientific investigation than any other region of the universe.

2. (specifically) Built or designed as to be usable by people with disabilities.

   an accessible website

   accessible public transport

   • 2023 November 1, Nick Brodrick talks to Jason Cocker, “A station that "oozes" customer service...”, in RAIL, number 995, pages 52-53:

     As well as the boom in off-peak leisure numbers, "there has been a big spike in passenger assistance - that's really taken off as well", he continues. "We're probably victims of our own success because we promote this more than we ever used to. We promote how accessible the railways are. I think that this area has more than doubled from pre-COVID levels.

3. (of a person) Easy to get along with.

   Synonyms: easy-going, friendly, welcoming

4. (followed by to) Open to the influence of.
   • 1890, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of Herodotus:

     Minds accessible to reason.

5. Obtainable; to be got at.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     The materials, however, which are at present accessible, are sufficient for the construction of a narrative not to be read without shame and loathing.

6. (art, literature) Easily understood or appreciated. [from 1961]
   • 2015, Rose Bretécher, Pure, →ISBN:

     But something new was rippling through a million MySpace profiles. The sound was electro, and bass-laced synthetic dance pop would soon start streaming in from producers in Paris, dizzying the twenteens of Britain with its accessible, anthemic funk.

7. Capable of being used or seen.

Antonyms

• inaccessible

Derived terms

• accessibility
• accessibleness
• accessibly
• bioaccessible
• handicapped-accessible
• immunoaccessible
• nonaccessible
• unaccessible
• wheelchair accessible

 

Translations

easy of access or approach

• Armenian: հասանելի (hy) (hasaneli)
• Belarusian: дасту́пны (be) (dastúpny), дасяга́льны (dasjahálʹny)
• Bulgarian: достъ́пен (bg) (dostǎ́pen), достижи́м (bg) (dostižím)
• Catalan: accessible (ca)
• Czech: dostupný (cs), přístupný (cs)
• Danish: tilgængelig (da)
• Dutch: toegankelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: alirebla
• Estonian: ligipääsetav
• Finnish: helppopääsyinen
• French: accessible (fr)
• Galician: accesible (gl), accesíbel (gl)
• Georgian: მისაწვდომი (misac̣vdomi)
• German: zugänglich (de)
• Greek: προσιτός (el) (prositós)

  Ancient: βάσιμος (básimos)

• Hungarian: megközelíthető (hu)
• Interlingua: accessibile
• Italian: accessibile (it)
• Kazakh: қолжетімді (qoljetımdı)
• Latin: patens
• Macedonian: достапен (dostapen)
• Maori: tomopai
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tilgjengelig (no)

  Nynorsk: tilgjengeleg

• Polish: dostępny (pl)
• Portuguese: acessível (pt)
• Romanian: accesibil (ro)
• Russian: досту́пный (ru) (dostúpnyj), достижи́мый (ru) (dostižímyj)
• Sanskrit: सुगम (sa) (sugama)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: до̀ступан, при̏ступа̄чан

  Roman: dòstupan (sh), prȉstupāčan (sh)

• Slovak: dostupný, prístupný
• Slovene: dostopen
• Spanish: accesible (es), asequible (es)
• Swedish: tillgänglig (sv)
• Turkish: erişilebilir (tr)
• Ukrainian: досту́пний (dostúpnyj), дося́жний (dosjážnyj), досяжни́й (dosjažnýj)
• Welsh: hygyrch

built or designed as to be usable by people with disabilities

• Finnish: esteetön (fi) (built environment), saavutettava (fi) (digital services)
• German: barrierefrei (de)
• Hungarian: akadálymentes (hu), akadálymentesített (hu)

of a person, approachable

• Catalan: accessible (ca)
• Danish: tilgængelig (da)
• Estonian: kättesaadav
• Finnish: lähestyttävä
• French: accessible (fr)
• Galician: accesible (gl), accesíbel (gl)
• German: zugänglich (de)
• Greek: προσιτός (el) (prositós)
• Portuguese: acessível (pt)
• Russian: досту́пный (ru) (dostúpnyj)
• Spanish: accesible (es), abordable (es)
• Swedish: tillgänglig (sv)
• Turkish: erişilebilir (tr)

obtainable

• Bulgarian: постижи́м (bg) (postižím)
• Finnish: saatavilla oleva
• French: accessible (fr)
• Galician: accesible (gl), accesíbel (gl)
• Greek: προσιτός (el) (prositós)
• Hungarian: hozzáférhető (hu)
• Romanian: accesibil (ro) m or n
• Russian: досту́пный (ru) (dostúpnyj)

open to the influence of

• Bulgarian: пода́тлив (bg) (podátliv)
• Danish: modtagelig
• Finnish: avoin (fi)
• Galician: accesible (gl), accesíbel (gl)
• Russian: поддаю́щийся (ru) (poddajúščijsja), пода́тливый (ru) (podátlivyj)
• Swedish: mottaglig (sv)

easily understood

• Bulgarian: поня́тен (bg) (ponjáten)
• Danish: letforståelig
• Esperanto: facile komprenebla
• Finnish: ymmärrettävissä oleva
• Galician: accesible (gl), accesíbel (gl)
• German: zugänglich (de)
• Greek: προσιτός (el) (prositós)
• Italian: accessibile (it)
• Portuguese: acessível (pt)
• Russian: досту́пный (ru) (dostúpnyj), поня́тный (ru) (ponjátnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: при̏ступа̄чан

  Roman: prȉstupāčan (sh)

• Swedish: lättbegriplig (sv)
• Turkish: kolayca anlaşılır, kolay anlaşılan

Further reading

• “accessible”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Catalan

Etymology

From Late Latin accessibilis (“accessible”), from accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (“approach”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ək.səˈsib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ak.seˈsi.ble]

Adjective

accessible m or f (masculine and feminine plural accessibles)

1. accessible
2. approachable (of people)
   • 2015 May 19, Andrés Vicent, ““Portem quatre anys de campanya intensa””, in El Punt Avui‎^[1], retrieved 1 August 2022:

     Hem sigut gent molt accessible, hem fet tot el que ha estat a les nostres mans i coneguem els problemes socials de Silla.

     We've been very approachable people, we've done everything in our power and we know Silla's social issues.

Antonyms

• inaccessible

Derived terms

• accessibilitat
• inaccessible

Further reading

• “accessible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin accessibilis (“accessible”), from accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (“approach”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak.sɛ.sibl/ ~ /ak.se.sibl/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Homophone: accessibles
• Hyphenation: ac‧ces‧sible

Adjective

accessible (plural accessibles)

1. (of a place, information, etc.) accessible, attainable, obtainable, available
2. (of a price) affordable
3. (of a person) approachable

Antonyms

• inaccessible

Derived terms

• accessibilité

Further reading

• “accessible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.