Tunableness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being able to be adjusted precisely so that a sound, instrument or system operates at the desired pitch or setting
2. The capacity of an instrument, engine or device to be brought into proper adjustment or harmony through fine calibration
3. A state of being responsive to fine adjustment, allowing an instrument or mechanism to be set to a particular frequency or condition

Etymology: "Tunableness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "tunable," meaning able to be tuned, with the suffix "-ness" attached to turn that quality into a noun. The adjective itself is built from "tune" and the suffix "-able," which marks something that can be acted upon, so "tunable" describes something that can be brought into tune or adjusted to a setting. Adding "-ness" to adjectives is one of the oldest and most productive ways English forms abstract nouns, as in "goodness," "darkness," and "happiness." The word therefore needs no special story: its meaning follows directly from its parts. The noun names the state or degree of being tunable, whether that concerns a musical instrument, a radio receiver, or an electronic circuit that can be set to a particular frequency. Because "tunable" is the more common form, "tunableness" is used less often, mainly in technical writing where a speaker needs to discuss the quality itself rather than a specific thing that is tunable.

Synonyms: tunability