Simplifiability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The degree to which something complex can be made simpler, easier to understand, or reduced to fewer parts
2. How readily a process, system, or problem can be reduced to a more straightforward form without losing its essential nature
3. The capacity of a complicated matter or structure to be streamlined into a plainer, more manageable version

Etymology: Simplifiability is a straightforward formation: the adjective "simplifiable" (able to be simplified) with the noun-forming suffix "-ity" added. "Simplifiable" itself is "simplify" plus the suffix "-able," which comes via Old French from Latin "-abilis," meaning "able to be" or "capable of being." "Simplify" was borrowed in the 1600s from French "simplifier," built on Latin "simplex" (single, unmixed, plain), so the core idea is making something less complex or more single-stranded. The noun did not appear until much later than its parts. "Simplifiable" dates to the 1700s, and "simplifiability" was formed on top of it, with the earliest recorded uses appearing in the 19th century. It is a technical-sounding coinage, mostly found in mathematics, logic, engineering, and philosophy, where a writer needs to refer to the quality of something being reducible without using a longer phrase.