Digestable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being broken down by the digestive system for absorption ; able to be easily understood or grasped mentally ; suitable for consumption without causing discomfort or harm
2. Able to be processed and absorbed by the body after eating ; accessible and simple to comprehend or assimilate intellectually ; manageable for the stomach without difficulty
3. Subject to digestion by enzymes and bodily functions ; readily comprehensible or understandable by a person ; safe and convenient for ingestion and assimilation in the gastrointestinal tract

Etymology: "Digestable" is a misspelling of "digestible," the form that English inherited from Old French "digestible," itself drawn from Latin "digestibilis," from "digerere," meaning "to divide, dissolve, or carry apart." The Latin verb combined "dis-" (apart) with "gerere" (to carry), so the original sense was literally carrying things in different directions, and digestion came to mean breaking food into its separate parts. The spelling with "-able" is a common error because English has many adjectives ending in "-able," such as "readable" and "lovable," and writers naturally extend that pattern. The standard form, however, keeps the "-ible" ending found in its Latin and French source. Words ending in "-ible" are generally less frequent in English than "-able," which is why the pattern is easy to get wrong.