Flammabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being capable of igniting and burning easily; the degree to which a substance can catch fire under specified conditions; the susceptibility of materials to combustion when exposed to an ignition source
2. The characteristic of materials to readily ignite and sustain flames; a measure of how likely a substance is to ignite in particular environments; the potential for a material to combust when exposed to heat or sparks
3. The ability of a material to ignite and burn quickly under certain circumstances; an assessment of a substance's propensity to catch fire; the likelihood of ignition when a flammable material comes into contact with a heat source

Etymology: "Flammabilities" is simply the plural of "flammability," the noun for the state of being flammable. Plurals of this kind are used when people compare or measure several substances, as in tests that rank the flammabilities of different fabrics or liquids. The underlying word, "flammability," is formed from "flammable" plus the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun of quality.

Synonyms: combustibility, ignitability, inflammability

Antonyms: inflammability, nonflammability