degradable
/dɪˈɡɹeɪdəbəl/dih-GRAY-duh-buhl
/dɪˈɡɹeɪdəbəl/dih-GRAY-duh-buhl
Meaningthat one can step down
Common meaning: able to be degraded
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- grada step; to step, walkLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 821 · scan
- ableable to be
‘down, away, off’ + ‘a step’ → degradable
Journey through time
- Latingradus; gradior, gressus‘a step’
- Frenchdegrader
- Englishdegrade‘to lower in rank, quality or condition’
- Englishformed in English from degradedegradable‘able to be degraded’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: that one can step down. It can be inferred from any of: degrade.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from degrade + -able (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- gradus; gradior, gressus Latin “a step; to step, walk”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app