Tradable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Permitting exchange in a marketplace setting
2. Able to be exchanged or sold in commercial markets
3. Suitable for transaction or sale between buyers and sellers

Etymology: "Tradable" is a plain formation: the noun-turned-verb "trade" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." The suffix itself has a longer road. It descends from Latin "-ābilis," which passed into Old French as "-able," and English borrowed that ending, so "-able" arrived in English through French rather than directly from Latin. The verb "trade" has a more unexpected history. It comes from Middle Low German "trade," a track or path, and in the early sense the idea was of a regular course one travels, which later narrowed to the business of buying and selling along such routes. The word is closely tied to the Old Saxon "trada," a path, so trade began with the notion of a worn route rather than of exchange. Adding "-able" to "trade" produced "tradable" as a practical adjective for goods, securities, or anything that can change hands, and it is built directly on English materials, so the only foreign ingredients are the suffix and the ancient idea of a path.

Synonyms: exchangeable, marketable

Antonyms: non-tradable