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-able. World English Historical Dictionary

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-able. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1888, rev. 2022. -able a. Fr. -able:—L. -ābilem, adj. suffix, the special form taken by the suffix -bili- (see -BLE) when added to vbs. in -āre, Fr. -er. Extended in Fr. to vbs. of all conjugations, -ble taking the place of -nt in pr. pple., thus périss-able, recev-able, vend-able, défend-able, mouv-able. Originally found in Eng. only in words from OFr. but soon by analysis of such instances as pass-able, agree-able, amend-able, treated as a living suffix, and freely employed to form analogous adjectives, not only on vbs. from Fr., but at length on native words, as bearable, speakable, breakable, wearable. This extension seems to be largely due to form-association with the adj. ABLE (to which the suffix is not related), so that eatable, e.g., is taken as eat + able, able to be eaten. The vb. has often a sb. of the same form, as in debat-able, rat(e)-able; these lead the way to such as carriageable, clubbable, where the sb. seems to be the source, and saleable, in which no vb. exists. Recent usage adds -able even to a verbal phrase as get-a·t-able, come-a·t-able. Now always with passive sense, but in early words often active, as in comfortable, suitable, able to comfort, suit.

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