Contactable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being reached or communicated with by others
2. Able to be connected or contacted for correspondence or interaction
3. Capable of being approached or communicated with through various means

Etymology: "Contactable" is simply "contact" with the suffix "-able" attached. "Contact" entered English from Latin "contactus", a noun built from "contingere", meaning "to touch", which is itself made of "com-" (together) and "tangere" (to touch). The notion of touching has been stretched far from its physical origins, so that a person can now be "contactable" by phone, email or post without ever being physically reached. The suffix does the grammatical work. "-able" descends through Old French from Latin "-abilis", meaning "capable of being", and English has used it since the Middle Ages to form adjectives like "readable" and "washable". Attaching it to "contact" yields a word meaning "capable of being contacted", and the sense of "contact" used here, to get in touch with someone by some means, is a relatively modern development of the verb.

Synonyms: reachable, available

Antonyms: unreachable, inaccessible