penetrable

See also: pénétrable

English

Etymology

From Middle English penetrable, penytrable, from Old French penetrable, from Medieval Latin penetrābilis.

Adjective

penetrable (comparative more penetrable, superlative most penetrable)

1. Capable of being penetrated, entered, or pierced. Also figuratively.
   • 1867: George Rawlinson, The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World

     On the east the high mountain-chain of Zagros, penetrable only in one or two places, forms a barrier of the most marked character, and is beyond a doubt the natural limit for which we are looking.

   • 1900: Arthur M. Mann, The Boer in Peace and War

     A Boer may know you, but it will take you some time to know him, and when a certain stage in your acquaintance is reached, you may begin to wonder whether his real nature is penetrable at all.

   • 1996: Peter Carruthers & Peter K. Smith, Theories of Theories of Mind

     A capacity is cognitively penetrable in this sense if that capacity is affected by the subject's knowledge or ignorance of the domain.

Antonyms

• impenetrable

Related terms

• penetrableness
• penetrably

Translations

capable of being penetrated

• Czech: proniknutelný m
• Dutch: doordringbaar (nl)
• German: durchlässig (de)
• Italian: penetrabile (it), perforabile, trapassabile
• Latin: penetrābilis
• Manx: yn-towlagh
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: penetrabil (ro) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про́бо̄јан

  Roman: próbōjan (sh)

References

• “penetrable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• repentable