Perforable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be pierced or made to have openings through various means
2. Describing something that can have holes created in it without significant difficulty
3. Able to have holes or openings created through it by piercing or puncturing

Etymology: "Perforable" is formed from the verb "perforate" plus the suffix "-able," which marks something capable of being acted upon. "Perforate" itself comes from Latin "perforare," meaning "to bore through," built from "per," "through," and "forare," "to bore" or "to pierce." The same Latin stem gives English "foraminous," an adjective for something full of small holes, and it is the root behind "forage" only through a separate, unrelated path, so the two should not be linked. The adjective is a regular, transparent formation: the suffix "-able" was productive in English from the late Middle Ages onward, attaching readily to Latinate verbs to describe what can be done to a thing. Because "perforate" is itself a borrowing, "perforable" inherits its Latin pedigree while the ending is native to the English system of word-building.

Synonyms: pierceable, punchable

Antonyms: imperforable