-able - Wikiwand

See also: able

English

Alternative forms

-ible (not productive)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English -able, borrowed from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis, from -a- or -i- + -bilis (“capable or worthy of being acted upon”), from Proto-Indo-European i-stem form *-dʰli- of *-dʰlom (“instrumental suffix”). Not closely related etymologically, though currently related semantically, to able. Displaced native Old English -endlīc.

Pronunciation

(Western) IPA^(key): /ə.bl̩/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(North India) IPA^(key): /ebl̩/, [eːbɐl] (same as the word able)
(South India) IPA^(key): /ăbl̩/, [ɐ.bɨɭ] (unstressed form)

Suffix

-able

An adjectival suffix; forms adjectives meaning:
1. Able to be done; fit to be done.
  movable: able to be moved
  
  amendable: able to be amended
  
  breakable: liable to broken
  
  blamable: fit to be blamed
  
  salable: fit to be sold
2. Relevant to or suitable to, in accordance with.
  fashionable: relevant to fashion
  
  seasonable: suitable to season
3. Giving, or inclined to.
  pleasurable: giving pleasure
  
  peaceable: inclined to peace
4. Subject to.
  reportable: subject to be reported
  
  taxable: subject to be taxed
5. Due to be.
  payable: due to be paid

Usage notes

Originally appeared only on French and Latin words, like separable. Over time -able was added to stems of English verbs ending in -ate, such as educable. Finally, due to probable confusion with the word able, it was used to form adjectives from all sorts of verbs, nouns, and even verb phrases, such as kickable, get-at-able, and hittable.
A terminal silent -e is often dropped when adding -able, but for roots ending with a soft -ce or -ge, such as replaceable and changeable, the -e is kept so that these are not misinterpreted as hard ‘c’ or ‘g’ sounds. Similar spelling patterns apply to some other suffixes beginning with a vowel, such as -ous in famous vs. courageous.
The final consonant of a root is doubled in the same contexts as when adding the suffix -ed. In general, this means doubling occurs when the preceding vowel is short and stressed (as in winnable) but not when it is long (as in obtainable) or unstressed (as in openable). In British English, a final L is typically doubled after a short vowel regardless of whether the vowel is stressed or unstressed (as in compellable, modellable). In American English, final L typically follows the same rules as other consonants (as in compellable, modelable). These are the general trends, but there is some variation within British and American English between these two methods of doubling final L.
The form -ible usually has the same senses and pronunciation, though sometimes equivalent terms have diverged in meaning: compare suggestable (“capable of being suggested”) with suggestible (“susceptible to influence by suggestion”). The choice between the two is somewhat idiosyncratic, but in general, -ible is used in forms derived from Latin verbs of the second, third, and fourth conjugations, and in a few words whose roots end in a soft c or g, while -able is used in all other words, particularly those formed from Latin verbs of the first conjugation and those that come from French or from Anglo-Saxon (Old English). Fowler's English Usage recommends using -ible for simplicity's sake in any word whose root ends in a soft c or g to avoid -eable (e.g., *changible rather than changeable), but this recommendation has generally not been followed.
A number of adjectives in -able come from verbs that do not have direct objects, but that rather are construed with prepositions. In these cases, the preposition does not appear with the adjective in -able; hence, reliable (“fit to being relied on”), laughable (“suited for laughing at”), remarkable (“fit to be remarked upon”), and so on.
Traditionally, verbs ending in -ate drop this suffix before adding -able; hence, communicable (“able to be communicated”), eradicable (“possible to eradicate”), implacable (“unable to be placated”), inimitable (“unable to be imitated”), and so on, but relatable, because relate is re- + -late, not rel- + -ate. Logically one should therefore say rotable to mean "able to be rotated", but rotatable has become accepted.
There are cases where a word with un- -able is much more common than one with just -able, such as unbreakable, unsinkable, and untouchable.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -able

Related terms

Translations

able to be done

Arabic: قابل لـ (qabil li-)
Egyptian Arabic: قابل لـ (ʔabel le-)
Armenian: -ի (-i)
Asturian: -able
Catalan: -able, -ible
Chinese:
Cantonese: -得 (yue) (-dak¹)

Mandarin: 可- (zh)
Cornish: -adow
Czech: -elný
Danish: -bar
Dutch: -baar (nl), -abel (nl) (for words from Latin or Romance languages)
Esperanto: -ebla (eo)
Finnish: -tava, -tävä
French: -able (fr), -ible (fr)
Galician: -able, -ábel
Georgian: -ადი (-adi)
German: -bar (de), -abel (de) (for words from Latin or Romance languages)
Hindi: योग्य (hi) (yogya)
Hungarian: -ható (hu), -hető (hu)
Ido: -ebla
Indonesian: -abel
Interlingua: -abile, -ibile
Italian: -abile, -ibile, -evole
Japanese: -られる (ja) (-rareru)
Latin: -ābilis
Low German:
German Low German: -bor (nds)
Malay: -abel
Malayalam: -ആവുന്ന (-āvunna)
Middle English: -able
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -abel (no), -bar (no)
Old Saxon: -bar
Persian: -پذیر (fa)
Polish: -alny (pl), -elny
Portuguese: -ável (pt), -ível (pt)
Romanian: -bil
Russian: -я́емый (-jájemyj), -а́емый (-ájemyj), -и́мый (-ímyj)
Slovene: -ljiv
Spanish: -able (es), -ible (es)
Swedish: -bar (sv), -abel (sv)
Tamil: -கூடிய (-kūṭiya)
Turkish: -bilir
Welsh: -adwy (cy)

fit to be done

Dutch: -baar (nl)
Finnish: -kelpoinen, -tava, -tävä
Japanese: -られる (ja) (-rareru)
Manx: yn-
Middle English: -able
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -abel (no)
Portuguese: -ável (pt), -ível (pt)
Swedish: -abel (sv)
Tamil: -கூடிய (-kūṭiya)

relevant or suitable to, in accordance with

Finnish: -kas (fi), -käs (fi)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -abel (no)
Romanian: -bil
Swedish: -abel (sv)

expressing capacity or worthiness in a passive sense

Finnish: -tava, -tävä
German: -wert
Swedish: -värd (sv)

due to be

Finnish: -tava, -tävä
French: -able (fr)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: -bar (no)
Swedish: -värd (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: (before the infinitive) te (nl) (5)
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} -ebla (eo)
German: ^{(please verify)} -bar (de)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} -abile, ^{(please verify)} -ibile
Latin: ^{(please verify)} -abilis, ^{(please verify)} -ibilis
Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} -лив (-liv)
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} -bil
Welsh: ^{(please verify)} -adwy (cy)
West Frisian: ^{(please verify)} -ber

Anagrams

Abel, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea

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Asturian

Etymology

From Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈable/ [ˈa.β̞le]
Rhymes: -able
Syllabification: -a‧ble

Suffix

-able (epicene, adjective-forming suffix, plural -ables)

-able

Derived terms

Asturian terms suffixed with -able

negociable

razonable

tresportable

Catalan

Etymology

Derived from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈab.blə]

IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈa.ble]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Suffix

-able m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ables)

-able

Usage notes

This suffix is used for verbs of the first conjugation, which end in -ar and are the most common. For other verbs, the suffix is -ible.

Derived terms

References

“-able”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-

Proto-Italic *haβēō

Latin habeō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ibilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -able

Middle French -able

French -able

Inherited from Middle French -able, from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.
Particularly: "extra-Metropolitan"

IPA^(key): /abl/
Audio: (file)

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

-able

Derived terms

French terms suffixed with -able

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Galician

Alternative forms

-ábel

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Suffix

-able m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ables)

-able

Derived terms

From

Galician terms suffixed with -able

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Middle English

Alternative forms

-abell, -abil, -abile, -abill, -abul, -abull, -abyl, -abyll

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-ˈaːbəl/, /-ˈaːblə/

Suffix

-able

Forming adjectives denoting ability, relevance or inclination; -able.

Derived terms

Descendants

English: -able
Scots: -able

References

“-āble, adj. suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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Middle French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-

Proto-Italic *haβēō

Latin habeō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ibilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -able

Middle French -able

Inherited from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

-able

Descendants

French: -able

References

“-able”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (-able)

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Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

-abel
-abelt

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɑːblə/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɑːblə
Hyphenation: ab‧le

Suffix

-able

singular definite & plural form of -abel

Anagrams

bale, bela

Old French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-

Proto-Italic *haβēō

Latin habeō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlis

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ibilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -able

Inherited from Latin -ābilis.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Suffix

-able (plural -ables)

worthy of, deserving of
‎honorer (“to honor”) + ‎-able → ‎honnorable (“honorable”)
-ing, creating an effect, an influence
‎forsener (“to become insane or enraged”) + ‎-able → ‎forsenable (“maddening”)