combustible

the word 'combustible' is built upon the latin verb comburere, which itself is a compound of the intensive prefix com- (meaning 'thoroughly') and burere, a variant of urere meaning 'to burn'. the past participle form combustus was adopted into english in the late 15th century. the suffix -ible, of latin origin, was then appended to form an adjective meaning 'capable of being thoroughly burned'. this logical construction directly links the ancient concept of consumption by fire to the modern scientific and safety-related term describing materials prone to ignition.

Structure: combust (burn) + ible (capable of) combust (from latin combustus, past participle of comburere meaning 'to burn up, consume by fire'); ible (from latin -ibilis, an adjectival suffix meaning 'capable of, able to be').