Rectifiable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Allowing for alterations that can correct deficiencies or problems
2. Able to be amended or improved to remove faults or errors
3. Possible to adjust or remedy in order to resolve issues or defects

Etymology: "Rectifiable" is simply "rectify" with the suffix "-able" attached, meaning capable of being corrected or set right. "Rectify" itself comes from the Latin "rectificare," built from "rectus" (straight, right, correct) and "facere" (to make), so the word literally means "to make straight." The suffix is the more tangled part of the story. "-able" passed into English through Middle English from Old French, which had inherited it from Latin "-abilis" and the longer form "-ābilis," the ending that turned a verb into an adjective meaning able to be done. Its earlier roots reach back through Italic forms to a much older Indo-European ending, but English speakers only ever needed the practical sense: attach it to a verb and you get something that can be acted upon. That is why English can produce "rectifiable" from "rectify" as easily as it produces "washable" from "wash."

Synonyms: correctable, repairable, fixable, mendable, adjustable

Antonyms: irreparable, incorrigible, unfixable, unalterable, immutable