Rateable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. able to be judged in terms of value or quality
2. Capable of being judged or measured according to certain standards
3. Subject to evaluation or appraisal based on specific criteria

Etymology: "Rateable" is a plain formation: the verb "rate" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being rated." The suffix has a long path into English. It descends from a Latin ending "-bilis" and "-ābilis," which passed through Old French "-able" before arriving in Middle English as "-able." English then attached it freely to native verbs, so "rate" gained a form meaning "open to being judged or valued." The suffix is far older than the English word. Its ultimate ancestry reaches back to Proto-Indo-European, but the working history is simply that English speakers already had "-able" and "rate" in hand and combined them. The result is a transparent word: if something can be assessed or valued, it is rateable.

Synonyms: assessable, valued, taxable, appraisable, liable

Antonyms: non-assessable, exempt, non-taxable, unvalued, free