- -ible
- suffix forming adjectives meaning 'that may or may be' (see -ABLE) (terrible; forcible; possible).
Etymology: F -ible or L -ibilis
* * *
— see -able* * *
var. of -able, occurring in words borrowed from Latin (credible; horrible; visible), or modeled on the Latin type (reducible).* * *
-ible /-ə-bl/adj sfxHaving similar uses to those of ↑-able, esp the passive ‘capable of being’, as in audible, permissible, visibleORIGIN: L -ibilis, from -bilis as used with a 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-conjugation verb• • •-ibility n sfx-ibly adv sfx* * *
-ible,suffix added to verbs to form adjectives. that can be _____ed; able to be _____ed: »Divisible = that can be divided. Perfectible = that can be perfected. Reducible = that can be reduced.
╂[< Latin -ibilis, -ībilis, a suffix forming adjectives from verbs with infinitives in -ēre, -ere, -īre, being one form of the suffix -bilis]* * *
[əbəl; ibəl]suffix forming adjectives1) able to beaudible | defensible
2) suitable for beingreversible | edible
3) causingterrible | horrible
4) having the quality todescendible | passible
•Origin:from French -ible or Latin -ibilis* * *
↑-able ————————— see ↑-able* * *
-ible [-ible] ; -ibly* * *
-iblethe form of the suffix -ble, representing L. -ĭbilis, formed from Latin consonantal stems (verbal or participial) and some e-stems, and -ībilis from i-stems; as leg-ible, poss-ible, vis-ible, flex-ible, permiss-ible, terr-ible, aud-ible. Often displaced by -able in words that have come through French, or that are looked upon as formed immediately on an Eng. verb. as refer-able, ten-able, readmitt-able, convert-able, divid-able.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.