Plumbable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being investigated or analyzed for accuracy or quality
2. Able to be determined, usually regarding dimensions or conditions, through measurement or scrutiny
3. Capable of being precisely checked or assessed by careful measurement or exploration

Etymology: "Plumbable" is simply "plumb" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning able to be plumbed. The adjective describes something that can be probed, measured, or tested for accuracy or quality, and it draws its sense from the older verb "plumb." The verb "plumb" comes from the Latin "plumbum," meaning lead, the metal used for the weight on a sounding line. Sailors dropped a lead weight on a line to measure water depth, and "to plumb" came to mean reaching down to find the bottom. From that physical act of sounding came the extended sense of testing or getting to the bottom of something, whether a depth, a mystery, or a claim. The suffix "-able" is the common English ending meaning "capable of being," so a "plumbable" depth or question is one that can be sounded out. Because the word is a straightforward derivation, its history is mostly the story of "plumb" itself.

Synonyms: measurable, ascertainable, determinable, appraisable, calculable

Antonyms: unmeasurable, indeterminate, inestimable, imprecise, uncertain