Discoverability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of something being able to be found, detected, or located by others
2. Refers to how easily an object, idea, or information can be discovered or brought to attention
3. Describes the extent to which something is accessible through searching or exploration

Etymology: "Discoverability" is a plain English compound built from "discover" and the suffix "-ability", and its history is a matter of assembling existing parts rather than a single coinage with a dramatic backstory. The verb "discover" arrived in English in the Middle English period, borrowed through Old French "descovrir" from Late Latin "discoperire", which combined "dis-" (undoing or reversing) with "cooperire" (to cover over). The original sense was literal: to uncover, to remove the cover from something, so that a hidden thing became visible. The suffix "-ability" has a longer road into English. It descends from the Latin "-abilitas", which formed nouns of quality from adjectives ending in "-abilis", meaning "able to be" something. It passed through Middle French and Middle English before settling into modern English as a productive ending, so that a verb such as "discover" can yield a noun naming the quality of being able to be found out. The combined word therefore means, literally, the quality of being able to be uncovered, which is why it describes how easily something can be found.

Synonyms: accessibility, detectability, findability