Reclaimable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Able to be recovered or taken back for use or possession ; capable of being restored to a good or useful condition
2. That which can be retrieved or regained after loss or damage ; able to be improved or rehabilitated for further use
3. Suitable for recovering or reclaiming something lost ; possible to renew or convert back to a functional state

Etymology: "Reclaimable" is a plain compound: the verb "reclaim" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning "able to be reclaimed." The verb itself came into English from Old French "reclamer," which in turn came from Latin "reclamare," meaning to cry out against or protest. The suffix does most of the work here. "-able" descends from Latin "-abilis," which turned any verb into a description of what could be done to it, and it passed into English through Old French "-able" and Middle English "-able." The resulting formation is a simple one, so the word's history is essentially the history of its two parts. Its most common senses today are literal ones: land drained from water, waste material that can be reprocessed, or goods that can be sold back. The core idea, recovering something that was lost, given up, or set aside, runs straight through all of them.

Synonyms: recoverable, restorable, redeemable, reusable, retrievable

Antonyms: irrecoverable, irretrievable, lost, damaged, wasted