Cleanable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being made free from dirt, stains, or impurities through cleaning
2. Able to be restored to a clean condition by removing unwanted substances
3. Suitable for cleaning so that dirt or contaminants can be effectively removed

Etymology: The adjective "cleanable" is a straightforward combination: the English adjective "clean" with the suffix "-able," which means "capable of being" or "suitable for" the action its base describes. "Clean" itself traces back through Middle English "clene" and Old English "clǣne," from a Proto-West Germanic root, with its ultimate origins in the Proto-Indo-European root "*-dʰlom," which is also the source of a range of related words in other languages. The suffix did most of the work here. Its ancestor is Latin "-bilis," which Latin speakers attached to verbs to mean "able to be" something, and which passed into English by way of Old French "-able" and then Middle English "-able." English speakers have been using this suffix to create new words for centuries, so "cleanable" is one of many formations built on the same pattern, such as "washable" or "breakable." The combination is a transparent one, and it describes a surface, fabric, or material that can be cleaned effectively.

Synonyms: washable, removable, tidy, neat, sanitizable

Antonyms: uncleanable, dirty, soiled, messy, contaminated