-able
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- -ible (not productive)
Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- (US) IPA(key): /ə.bl̩/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Suffix
[edit]-able
- An adjectival suffix; forms adjectives meaning:
- 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
- Relevant to or suitable to, in accordance with.
- fashionable: relevant to fashion
- seasonable: suitable to season
- Giving, or inclined to.
- pleasurable: giving pleasure
- peaceable: inclined to peace
- Subject to.
- reportable: subject to be reported
- taxable: subject to be taxed
- Due to be.
- payable: due to be paid
- Able to be done; fit to be done.
Usage notes
[edit]- 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
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Anagrams
[edit]Asturian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able (epicene, adjective-forming suffix, plural -ables)
Derived terms
[edit]Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ables)
Usage notes
[edit]- 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
[edit]References
[edit]- “-able” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Middle French -able, from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able (plural -ables)
Derived terms
[edit]Galician
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ables)
Derived terms
[edit]From
.
Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able
- Forming adjectives denoting ability, relevance or inclination; -able.
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “-āble, adj. suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Middle French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old French -able, from Latin -ābilis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able (plural -ables)
Descendants
[edit]- French: -able
References
[edit]- “-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 IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (-able)
Norwegian Bokmål
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able
Anagrams
[edit]Old French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-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”)
Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “-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 IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (-able)
- -able on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub
- http://zeus.atilf.fr/scripts/dmfX.exe?IDF=dmfXaabb;ISIS=isis_dmfL.txt;s=s14033bb8;XMODE=STELLa
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin -ābilis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-able m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ables)
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “-able”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English suffixes
- English adjective-forming suffixes
- English productive suffixes
- Asturian terms derived from Latin
- Asturian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Asturian adjective-forming suffixes
- Asturian lemmas
- Asturian suffixes
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan suffixes
- Catalan adjective-forming suffixes
- Catalan epicene suffixes
- Catalan masculine suffixes
- Catalan feminine suffixes
- Catalan suffixes with multiple genders
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French suffixes
- French adjective-forming suffixes
- Galician terms inherited from Latin
- Galician terms derived from Latin
- Galician lemmas
- Galician suffixes
- Galician adjective-forming suffixes
- Galician masculine suffixes
- Galician feminine suffixes
- Galician suffixes with multiple genders
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English suffixes
- Middle French terms inherited from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French suffixes
- Norwegian Bokmål terms with IPA pronunciation
- Norwegian Bokmål terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Norwegian Bokmål/ɑːblə
- Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms
- Norwegian Bokmål suffix forms
- Old French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Old French lemmas
- Old French suffixes
- Spanish terms inherited from Old Spanish
- Spanish terms derived from Old Spanish
- Spanish terms inherited from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/able
- Rhymes:Spanish/able/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish suffixes
- Spanish adjective-forming suffixes
- Spanish epicene suffixes
- Spanish masculine suffixes
- Spanish feminine suffixes
- Spanish suffixes with multiple genders