Agglutinable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of forming a cohesive unit by adhering to other elements
2. Capable of being joined closely with other components to form a complex whole
3. Describing something that can be connected or fused with additional parts to create a unified structure

Etymology: The root of this word is glue. Latin "gluten" meant glue, and "agglutinare" added "ad-" to mean to glue one thing onto another. Gluten, the protein in wheat, comes from the same Latin source, which is why the two words look related. English took the Latin past participle as "agglutinate," a verb meaning to stick things together, and added the suffix "-able," meaning capable of being done, to form the adjective. In linguistics, agglutinable describes elements that can be attached one after another to a base word while each keeps its own clear form. Turkish is a common example, where a single root can take a chain of suffixes, each added in turn.