Beddable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A characteristic indicating that a surface is appropriate for sleep or rest
2. Capable of being used as a place to lie down or rest comfortably
3. Having qualities that make a surface fit for sleeping or reclining

Etymology: "Beddable" is about as plain as English word-building gets: it is "bed" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning "capable of being" something. Since "bed" is an old Germanic word, its ancestry runs back through Old English "bedd" and the same root that gave German "Bett", so the newer part of the word is the suffix rather than the stem. The suffix "-able" came into English through Old French from Latin "-abilis", a formation meaning "able to be", and English speakers attached it freely to native words as well as Latin ones. The pattern is productive, which is why coinages like this one can appear whenever a speaker needs a quick way to say that something is suitable for a particular use. The meaning follows directly from the parts: a thing that is beddable is one that could serve as a bed or a place to rest, with the sense of comfort carried in the description rather than in the suffix itself.

Synonyms: suitable, appropriate, acceptable, permissible, fit

Antonyms: unsuitable, inappropriate, improper, unacceptable, unfit