DictionaryRoot: -abilis
Latin
-abilis
able to be; fit for
Forms
- -abilis
- -able — English ending developed through French.
Origin
Latin verb-stem vowel -a- plus -bilis, a suffix expressing capacity or suitability.
Note
Once borrowed, English attached this ending freely to its own words.
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adjective / noun
potable
POH-tuh-bul/ˈpəʊtəbl/
Suitable for drinking, or a liquid that is suitable for drinking.
Etymology
The pieces express suitability for drinking. Potable therefore describes water or another liquid as fit for people to drink, rather than merely something they can physically swallow.
Related word entries
- abominable
- acceptable
- admirable
- adorable
- affable
- amiable
- amicable
- appreciable
- arable
- capable
- commendable
- communicable
- comparable
- considerable
- culpability
- culpable
- damnable
- delectable
- demonstrable
- despicable
- detestable
- dispensable
- durability
- durable
- estimable
- excusable
- execrable
- explicable
- favorable
- formidable
- friable
- habitable
- hospitable
- imaginable
- immeasurable
- immutability
- immutable
- impeccable
- impenetrable
- impermeable
- incomparable
- inconsolable
- incurable
- indispensable
- indisputable
- indomitable
- indubitable
- ineluctable
- inestimable
- inevitable
- inexcusable
- inexorable
- inexplicable
- inflammable
- inimitable
- innumerable
- insatiable
- inscrutable
- inseparable
- insuperable
- insupportable
- interminable
- intolerable
- intractable
- inviolable
- invulnerable
- irrefutable
- irreparable
- irrevocable
- irritable
- lamentable
- laudable
- malleable
- measurable
- memorabilia
- memorable
- mutable
- navigable
- notable
- observable
- palpable
- permeable
- portable
- potable
- reasonable
- revocable
- separable
- sociability
- sociable
- tolerable
- tractable
- variable
- vegetable
- venerable
- vulnerable