Weldabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The degree to which metals or other materials can be joined successfully by welding under given conditions
2. How readily a material can be fused together by heat or pressure to form a sound, lasting joint
3. The suitability of a metal or alloy for welding, including how easily it bonds and how resistant the joint is to defects

Etymology: Weldabilities is simply the plural of weldability, so it names more than one kind of ability to be welded. The base word "weld" is a sixteenth-century English term for joining metal by heating and hammering it together, a sense that grew from the older idea of working metal while it is soft and pliable. Its ending does most of the work in this word. The suffix "-ability" comes from Latin "-abilitas," which English received through Middle French "-abilite" and Middle English "-ablete," and it turns an adjective like "weldable" into a noun for the quality of being able to be done. Because "weldability" was formed in English from an existing verb plus this suffix, the plural form appears mainly when metallurgists or engineers compare several metals or joining methods. Each alloy or process has its own weldability, so the plural lets a technical writer speak of those properties side by side.