Why Inflammable Is Not the Opposite of Flammable
Combustible and incombustible are opposites, but flammable and inflammable
are synonyms. How can that be? The in- of incombustible is a common prefix
meaning "not," but the in- of inflammable is a different prefix. Inflammable,
which dates back to 1605, descends from Latin inflammare ("to inflame"),
itself from in- (here meaning "in" or "into") plus flammare ("to flame").
Flammable also comes from flammare but didn't enter English until 1813. In
the early 20th century, firefighters worried that people might think
inflammable meant "not able to catch fire," so they adopted flammable and
nonflammable as official safety labels and encouraged their use to prevent
confusion. In general use, flammable is now the preferred term for describing
things that can catch fire, but inflammable is still occasionally used with
that meaning as well.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inflammable