Reduceable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A state or condition that allows for diminishing in quantity, size, or intensity while maintaining its essential characteristics
2. An entity characterized by its ability to be lessened in amount or significance without losing its primary nature
3. Able to be decreased in size, amount, or degree without losing its core features

Etymology: "Reduceable" is an alternative spelling of "reducible", and its history runs through the verb "reduce". That verb reaches English from Old French "reduire", which in turn comes from Latin "reducere", meaning "to lead back" or "bring back", built from "re-" (back) and "ducere" (to lead). The suffix "-ible", meaning "able to be", arrived through Old French "-ible" from Latin "-ibilis", so the word literally means "able to be led back" or "able to be brought down to a smaller form." The "-ible" ending is the same one found in "visible" and "credible", and the same Latin root gave English "reduce" the sense of bringing something down to a lower or simpler state. Because the word is a plain formation from an existing verb plus a suffix, the spelling "reduceable" appears through the familiar tendency to keep the "e" of "reduce" before "-able", even though the suffix in this case is "-ible".

Synonyms: diminishable, contractible

Antonyms: expandable