different between expedient vs estimable

English

Etymology

From Middle English expedient, from Old French expedient, from Latin expediens (stem expedient-), present participle of expedire (“to bring forward, to dispatch, to expedite; impers. to be profitable, serviceable, advantageous, expedient”), from ex (“out”) + p?s (“foot, hoof”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?spi?di.?nt/

Adjective

expedient (comparative more expedient, superlative most expedient)

1. Suitable to effect some desired end or the purpose intended.
   • a. 1863, Richard Whately, Thoughts and Apophthegms

     Nothing but the right can ever be the expedient, since that can never be true expediency which would sacrifice a greater good to a less.

2. Affording short-term benefit, often at the expense of the long-term.
3. Governed by self-interest, often short-term self-interest.
4. (obsolete) Expeditious, quick, rapid.
   • a 1623, Shakespeare, King John, Act II, scene i, lines 57–61:

     the adverse winds / Whose leisure I have stay'd, have given him time / To land his legions all as soon as I; / His marches are expedient to this town / His forces strong, his soldiers confident.

Synonyms

• advisable, desirable, judicious, politic, prudent, tactical, wise

Related terms

Translations

Noun

expedient (plural expedients)

1. A method or means for achieving a particular result, especially when direct or efficient; a resource.
   • 1906, O. Henry, The Green Door:

     He would never let her know that he was aware of the strange expedient to which she had been driven by her great distress.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, page 709:

     Depressingly, [...] the expedient of importing African slaves was in part meant to protect the native American population from exploitation.

Translations

Further reading

• expedient in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• expedient in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• expedient at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “expedient”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin expedi?ns.

Adjective

expedient (masculine and feminine plural expedients)

1. expedient, convenient

Noun

expedient m (plural expedients)

1. file, record, dossier

Derived terms

• expedientar

Further reading

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

Latin

Verb

expedient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of expedi?

Romanian

Etymology

From French expédient.

Noun

expedient n (plural expediente)

1. expedient

Declension

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French estimable.

Adjective

estimable (comparative more estimable, superlative most estimable)

1. Worthy of esteem; admirable.
   • 1868, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, ch. 22:

     Mr. March told . . . how devoted Brooke had been, and how he was altogether a most estimable and upright young man.

2. (archaic) Valuable.
   • 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, act 1, scene 3:

     A pound of man's flesh taken from a man

     Is not so estimable, profitable neither,

     As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats.

3. Capable of being estimated; estimatable.
   • 1928, Louis Kahlenberg and Norbert Barwasser, "On the time of Absorption and Excretion of Boric Acid in Man," Journal of Biological Chemistry, volume 79, iss. 2, page 406:

     After this time boric acid is always present in estimable amounts.

Further reading

• estimable at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Etymology

From estimer +? -able

Adjective

estimable (plural estimables)

1. estimable, creditable
2. esteemed

Further reading

• “estimable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Spanish

Adjective

estimable (plural estimables)

1. esteemed, admirable
2. estimable (capable of being estimated)

Related terms

• estimado