Alterabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being changeable and adaptable in various contexts; the potential for modification in form or characteristics; the capacity to undergo variations or transformations as circumstances dictate
2. The condition of having the ability to adjust or modify; a trait that allows for flexibility in response to different situations; the property of being subject to alteration based on external influences
3. The characteristic of being open to change or revision in different aspects; the potential for an item or concept to be altered or improved; the ability to adapt in various environments or conditions

Etymology: "Alterability" is a plain formation: the English verb "alter" with the suffix "-ability," which turns an adjective ending in "-able" into a noun for the quality of being that thing. "Alter" itself arrived in English from Middle French and Latin, where it meant "other" in the sense of "the second of two," and the sense of changing something into something else developed from that idea of making a thing other than it was. The suffix does most of the work here. "-able" descends from Latin "-abilis," which attached to verbs to mean "capable of being" what the verb describes, and the abstract noun ending "-ability" came into English through Middle French from Latin "-abilitas." English speakers attached the two together, so "alter" plus "-ability" yields the quality of being capable of alteration. The plural "alterabilities" simply counts distinct instances of that quality, as when one speaks of the different ways a material or a system can be changed. The word is a modern-style compound built from familiar parts rather than a term with a dramatic history of its own.

Synonyms: adaptabilities, flexibilities, modifiabilities, variabilities, alterations