Addressable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be spoken to directly or to have communications sent to it
2. Describes something that can be identified and reached by a specific address or reference
3. Capable of having information or instructions directed toward it uniquely

Etymology: "Addressable" is a plain combination of "address" and the suffix "-able," which turns a verb into an adjective meaning "able to be" the thing described. The base verb "address" has a long lineage: it traces back through Old French "adrecier," a blend of "a-" ("to") and "drecier," meaning "to make straight" or "to direct," which itself came from Vulgar Latin "dīrēctiāre," from Latin "dīrēctus," "made straight." So the core idea behind "address" is literally putting something in a straight line toward a target, and the word first meant to direct a person or thing toward a goal before it came to mean speaking to someone. The suffix "-able" arrived through Old French "-able" from Latin "-ābilis," which marked capacity or fitness. English adopted it in the Middle English period, and it was attached freely to native and borrowed verbs alike. "Addressable" therefore follows the same pattern as "readable" or "washable," with "address" carrying the sense of being directed at someone and "-able" supplying the sense of being capable of receiving it.

Synonyms: reachable, contactable

Antonyms: unreachable