Enhanceable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possible to improve or increase in quality or effectiveness
2. Able to be modified or augmented to achieve better performance or appeal
3. Able to undergo changes that result in improved quality or function

Etymology: "Enhanceable" is simply "enhance" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning able to be enhanced, and therefore improved. The base verb "enhance" came into English from Anglo-Norman "enhauncer," meaning to raise or lift up, which in turn came from Old French "enhaucier," built from "en-" and "haucier" (to raise). The original sense was literal elevation, so an enhanced thing was once something made higher, and the figurative sense of increasing in value or quality developed from there. The suffix "-able" comes from Latin "-abilis," which turned verbs into adjectives meaning "capable of being" the action of the verb. English took it up heavily through French, and it became one of the most productive suffixes for forming new adjectives. Attaching it to "enhance" was a routine extension of that pattern, so the word has no separate coinage story of its own.

Synonyms: improvable, refinable

Antonyms: diminishable