wearable

Etymology

It is formed from English wear + -able.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Able or fit to be worn: 1590, in J. Smythe's Certain Discourses on weapons.^[2][4] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date it to the 1580s.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

As a noun, an article of clothing, usually in the plural, it is recorded from 1695 in the OED,^[2] while Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1711.^[3][4] In 1716 the adjective also meant durable, able to stand wear.^[2] Of clothes and fashions it now often means easy or pleasant to wear.^[2][7] In the 20th century it was applied to portable devices worn on the body (1934), and since the 1990s, as a noun, to such devices, especially ones with computer technology.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1590 – able or fit to be worn.^[2][4]
• 1695 – noun, an article of clothing.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the noun to 1711.^[3][4]
• 1716 – durable, able to stand wear.^[2]
• 1934 – of a portable device designed to be worn on the body.^[2]
• 1994 – noun, a wearable electronic device.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able or suitable to be worn: a wearable camera.^[4][7][2]
2. Of clothing or a style, easy or comfortable to wear: The designer's spring collection was bold but wearable.^[7][2]
3. Of a device, designed to be worn on the body, especially one with built-in computer technology: wearable technology.^[7][2]

Noun

1. An article of clothing; usually in the plural, garments: She packed the summer wearables into a trunk.^[4][7][2][5]
2. A wearable electronic device, such as one that tracks the wearer's pulse.^[7][2]

Word family

• wearability

Related words

• wear
• unwearable

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt