Filmable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being adapted or produced as a motion picture or television show
2. Able to be transformed into a cinematic work with sufficient dramatic or visual interest
3. Feasible to convert into a film or video production that would work on screen

Etymology: "Filmable" is a plain compound: the noun "film" with the suffix "-able," which comes from Latin "-ābilis," meaning "able to be" or "suitable for" the action of the base. The suffix passed through Old French "-able" into Middle English and then English, where it was attached freely to many base words over the centuries. "Film" itself has an older and rather different history. It traces back through Middle English "filme," meaning a membrane or thin covering, and Old English "filmen," to a Proto-Germanic root for a thin skin or membrane. The sense of a thin layer of material, such as a coating over the eye or a sheet of photographic emulsion, came before the cinematic meaning that now dominates the word. So "filmable" joins two very different strands: a Germanic word for a thin skin and a Latin-derived suffix meaning capable of being acted upon. Its meaning follows from the cinematic sense of "film," so a filmable story is one suitable for making into a movie.

Synonyms: adaptable