Pourable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to flow freely and transfer from one vessel to another efficiently while having a consistency that permits easy handling and dispensing without interruption
2. Having a texture or state that allows a substance to be easily transferred from one container to another by tipping or tilting
3. Describing a material that can smoothly flow out of a container due to its liquid or semi-liquid consistency

Etymology: "Pourable" is a plain formation: the verb "pour" with the suffix "-able," meaning "able to be" or "capable of being" done. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the verb. It descends through Old French "-able" from Latin "-ābilis," and in Latin the form "-bilis" attached to verb stems to express capacity, as in "amābilis" (lovable). English took the suffix in Middle English and has used it freely ever since. The suffix's own path carries the history here. Its ultimate roots go back through Proto-Italic forms to a much older Proto-Indo-European element, so the same ending that makes "pourable" also sits inside words borrowed from Latin and French across centuries of English.

Synonyms: liquid, flowable, drainable, spillable, runny

Antonyms: solid, thick, dense, viscous, clumpy