Do the words flammable and inflammable have same meaning?

You're right to be confused! "Flammable" and "inflammable" actually mean the same thing. They both describe a material's tendency to catch fire easily.

The word "inflammable" is sometimes thought to mean the opposite of flammable, but that's not true. It's just a bit of a linguistic quirk.

Here's why the confusion exists:

* "Inflammable" comes from the Latin "inflammare", meaning "to set on fire". It makes sense that this would mean "easily set on fire".

* "Flammable" comes from the Latin "flamma", meaning "flame". Again, it makes sense that this would mean "able to produce flame".

The problem is that the prefix "in-" sometimes means "not" in English. So, people might assume "inflammable" means "not flammable". However, this is not the case with "inflammable".

To avoid confusion, it's best to use "flammable" instead of "inflammable". It's clearer and less likely to cause misunderstandings.