Adoptable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being legally taken into a family or selected for care
2. Suitable for being accepted or taken as one's own
3. Fit to be chosen or embraced for use or care

Etymology: Adoptable is a straightforward formation: the verb "adopt" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being" or "suitable for." The suffix has a longer path than the word itself suggests. It descends from a Proto-Indo-European root for "to do" or "to put" that passed through Italic and Latin forms such as "-bilis" and "-abilis," meaning "able to be done." Those Latin adjectives spread through the Romance languages, and Old French supplied "-able," which English borrowed in Middle English. "Adopt" came into English from Latin "adoptare," meaning "to choose for oneself," and the "-able" ending attached to it was productive enough that English speakers could build new adjectives from almost any verb. Adoptable therefore follows the usual pattern for words of this kind, and it is recorded in the same productive way as its many relatives such as "washable" and "readable."

Synonyms: usable, acceptable, suitable, appropriate, viable

Antonyms: unacceptable, unsuitable, inadmissible, inappropriate, impractical