Predictables

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Descriptions or events that can be anticipated with confidence due to their inherent regularity or expected outcomes
2. Situations or results that emerge consistently, allowing for reliable expectation due to familiar patterns
3. Elements that do not vary significantly, leading to a high degree of assurance in forecasting their nature or behavior

Etymology: "Predictables" is the plural of "predictable," used as a noun for things that can be counted on to happen in a regular way. The adjective "predictable" is formed from "predict" plus the suffix "-able," which means "capable of being." So something predictable is capable of being foretold. The suffix has a long lineage. It descends from Latin "-abilis," which attached to verb stems to mean "able to be done," and it passed into English through Old French "-able." Its roots stretch back to a Proto-Indo-European element, but the working parts of the word are simple: "predict" from Latin "praedicere," meaning "to say beforehand," plus a suffix meaning "able to be." The noun use is the step that changes the word's grammar. An adjective describing events becomes a noun naming those events, which is how a quality turns into a category of things. The plural form then lists several such categories at once.