Condensable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be changed from a gas to a liquid by cooling or pressure
2. Describing a substance that can be made denser or transformed into liquid form
3. Having the property of undergoing condensation from vapor to liquid under suitable conditions

Etymology: "Condensable" is a plain English formation: the verb "condense" with the suffix "-able" added to it, meaning capable of being condensed. The suffix comes from Latin "-abilis", which English adopted through Old French and which attaches to verbs to mean "able to be" or "fit to be" whatever the verb describes. The base verb "condense" has a more physical history than its modern abstract uses suggest. It comes from Latin "condensare", meaning to make dense or compact, built from "com-" (together, intensive here) and "densare", from "densus" (thick, dense). Its earliest English uses were concrete, about packing matter tighter, and the sense of gas or vapour turning into liquid came later, which is the sense that gives "condensable" its meaning of able to liquefy. Because the word is a regular derivation, its date of entry follows that of "condense" and "-able" rather than marking a separate coinage. The spelling "condensable" sits beside "condensible", and both are accepted in English dictionaries.

Synonyms: compressible, liquefiable