-able

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English -able,^[2][3][1] borrowed from Anglo-Norman -able and Old French -able, and directly borrowed from Latin -ābilis,^[4][2][5] the form taken by the suffix -bilis after verbs of the first conjugation, as in amō (“to love”) and amābilis (“lovable”).^[4][6][7] Other conjugations had -ibilis, the source of -ible.^[6][2] Merriam-Webster traces -bilis to pre-Latin *-dʰl-is, and Wiktionary to Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom, an instrumental suffix;^[2][1] Etymonline gives Proto-Indo-European *-tro- and compares rudder and saddle.^[5] The suffix has no etymological connection with the adjective able,^[4][6][1] although association with it has much helped the suffix to spread.^[4][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in English in adjectives borrowed from French, apparently earliest in merciable in the early 13th century, followed by loans such as perdurable, movable, measurable and agreeable.^[4]

Semantic evolution

French had already spread the suffix from verbs in -er to verbs of all conjugations.^[4][6][8] In English, since a French adjective and its base were often both borrowed, -able could be felt as attached to the English verb, and it spread to native verbs, as in unspeakable and doable.^[4] It could then be read as the word able, so that eatable seemed to be "able to be eaten".^[4][7] From the 16th century it also went on nouns (saleable, marriageable), and later on verb phrases (come-at-able, get-at-able).^[4][7][6] New formations are now always passive in meaning, but an active sense is preserved in older words such as agreeable, comfortable and suitable.^[7][6] Etymonline remarks that by the 20th century the suffix had become very elastic, and quotes Fowler on the many things reasonable can mean.^[5] Early adjectives in -able seem to have been stressed on the suffix, like their French and Latin models; the stress later moved to the base.^[4] On the spelling, -able is used on native words, and -ible generally where the base goes back to a Latin verb in another conjugation.^[6]

Timeline

• early 13th century – merciable, from French.^[4]
• 1454 – bearable, formed within English.^[4]
• first half of the 16th century – saleable, formed on a noun.^[4]
• second half of the 16th century – marriageable, carriageable.^[4]
• late 17th century on – on prepositional verbs: come-at-able.^[4][7]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forming adjectives from verbs meaning fit for, capable of or worthy of having something done: washable, lovable.^[9][2][6]
2. Forming adjectives meaning tending to, inclined to or causing something: changeable, peaceable.^[9][2][6]

Word family

• agreeable
• comfortable
• reasonable
• capable
• eatable

Related words

• -ability
• -ible
• -ably

Usage notes

Barnhart notes that the choice between -able and -ible has long been uncertain, partly because French extended -able to verbs of every conjugation.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins