Illustratable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possible to represent through visual means or graphics
2. Able to be expressed or clarified with pictures or drawings
3. Susceptible to explanation or depiction using imagery

Etymology: "Illustratable" is simply "illustrate" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning able to be illustrated, or open to depiction through pictures or imagery. "Illustrate" itself comes from Latin "illustrare," meaning to light up or make clear, built from "in-" and "lustrare," to make bright. The sense of shedding light on something gradually broadened to include adding pictures to explain or decorate a text. The "-able" ending comes from Latin "-abilis" through Old French, and it attaches to verbs to mean capable of being acted upon. The competing form "illustrable" is the older and more conventional of the two, so "illustratable" is best seen as an alternative built directly on the English verb rather than a separate Latin inheritance.

Synonyms: demonstrable, exemplifiable, depictable

Antonyms: indemonstrable, indefinable, inexpressible