Harvestable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Appropriate for the gathering of agricultural produce or resources
2. Able to be gathered or collected from fields or resources when ripe or ready
3. Capable of being obtained by picking or extracting from plants or other natural sources

Etymology: "Harvestable" is a plain construction: the noun "harvest" with the suffix "-able", meaning able to be harvested, or ready to be picked. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the base word. It traces back through Latin "-abilis" and Old French "-able" to a Proto-Italic form, with the same root ultimately shared with the Latin "-bilis" family, which is why it reads as a Latin-style ending even when attached to an English word like "harvest". The base word has its own deep roots. "Harvest" is an inherited Old English word, not a borrowing, and the suffix arrived in English through Middle English from French. So the word is a native English stem joined to a French-derived ending, a mix that is common in English adjectives of this type.

Synonyms: collectible, gatherable

Antonyms: unharvestable