Intelligibility

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɪnˌtɛl.ə.d͡ʒəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/

Definitions

1. The quality of being able to be understood or comprehended clearly when spoken or written
2. The state of being clear and understandable in communication, whether through speech or writing, is essential for effective interaction
3. This quality refers to how easily a message can be grasped and processed by an audience in both verbal and written forms

Etymology: Intelligibility is a straightforward construction: the adjective "intelligible" (able to be understood) with the suffix "-ity", which turns an adjective into a noun naming a quality. The suffix itself has a long pedigree. It came into English through Old French "-ite" from Latin "-itās", and its ultimate roots reach back to Proto-Indo-European, though that prehistory matters less than the fact that English simply reused a suffix it had already absorbed many times over. The base word "intelligible" comes from Latin "intelligibilis", built from "intelligere", "to understand", itself formed from "inter" (between) and "legere" (to choose, gather, read). The idea of understanding as a kind of selecting between things is buried in the parts. Because "-ity" attaches so readily to adjectives ending in "-ible" and "-able", the noun form was a natural companion to the adjective, and it is the noun that now names the quality of being clear enough to follow.

Synonyms: clarity, comprehensibility, understandability, lucidity, transparency

Antonyms: incomprehensibility, confusion, ambiguity, obscurity, vagueness