Burnable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Suitable for ignition or able to sustain a flame
2. Able to catch fire and be consumed by flames when exposed to heat or a spark
3. Describes materials or substances that ignite and burn when exposed to an open flame

Etymology: "Burnable" is a plain compound: the English verb "burn" with the suffix "-able," meaning "able to be" or "capable of being." The suffix itself has a longer road behind it. It descends from Latin "-bilis" and "-ābilis," which passed into Old French as "-able" and then into Middle English, where it became a productive way to form adjectives from verbs. English speakers could attach it to almost any verb, so "burn" plus "-able" was an easy and transparent construction. The verb "burn" traces back to Proto-Indo-European roots related to heat and fire, and it has been part of English for centuries as a native word. Because "-able" was already a living, flexible ending by the time English speakers needed a word for things that could catch fire, "burnable" needed no special invention. It simply describes what the parts of the word say.