Limitability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being capable of having limits placed upon it
2. The capacity of something to be subject to restrictions or boundaries
3. A measure of how much something can be constrained or regulated

Etymology: "Limitability" is a plain formation: the adjective "limitable," meaning capable of being limited, plus the suffix "-ity," which turns adjectives into nouns of quality or state. "Limitable" itself is built from "limit" and the adjective-forming suffix "-able" (from Latin "-abilis," meaning capable of being). "Limit" came into English through Old French from Latin "limes," a boundary or path that marked the edge of a field. The "-ity" ending came into English through Old French from Latin "-itas," and it has been attached to hundreds of adjectives over the centuries, so the word follows a pattern rather than a single moment of coinage. Its earliest appearance in print is hard to pin down with confidence, and it is best understood as a later, somewhat technical formation rather than an old everyday word. Its neighbors "limitless" and "limitlessness," by contrast, show how the same root can point to the absence of a boundary instead of its presence.

Synonyms: boundedness, restrictability, constrainability

Antonyms: unboundedness, unlimitedness, infinity