Plunderable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be taken by force or looted during a raid or conflict
2. Susceptible to having goods or valuables forcibly removed
3. Vulnerable to robbery or seizure of possessions through violent means

Etymology: "Plunderable" is a plain English formation: the noun "plunder" with the suffix "-able" attached. "Plunder" itself came into English in the 15th century, borrowed from German "plündern", which originally meant to strip the household goods of a house, a sense that still shows in the word's older connection to household goods rather than open battle. The suffix is where the longer history lies. "-able" descends from Latin "-abilis", which Latin formed from verbs to mean "able to be" or "capable of being" what the verb describes. It reached English through Old French "-able", and the Middle English form "-able" was widely used to build adjectives on borrowed and native stems alike. Traced back further, the Latin ending links to the Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European material that shaped Latin's suffixes, but that deep ancestry is distant from how English speakers actually use the ending. "Plunderable" therefore means "capable of being plundered," and English speakers have freely attached "-able" to nouns like this to describe things that can be taken, damaged, or exploited.

Synonyms: lootable, stealable, robable

Antonyms: protected, defended, secured