Moultable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to shed or cast off an outer layer such as skin, feathers, or shell, typically as a regular biological process
2. Describing an organism or part that can lose its outer covering in order to renew or grow
3. Referring to the ability to discard an outer coating or integument to facilitate development or change

Etymology: Old English "mūtian" meant simply "to exchange" or "to change," with no link to shedding. It came from Latin "mutare," "to change," which also gave English "mutation" and "commute." The sense narrowed over the centuries to the shedding of feathers, hair, and skin, which is how "moult" (spelled "molt" in American English) came to mean what it does now. Adding the suffix "-able," from Latin "-abilis" by way of Old French, produces "moultable," meaning able to shed. The adjective is a plain formation on an existing verb, so the interest lies mainly in the verb's older, broader sense of change.