soluble

English

Etymology

From Middle English soluble, from Old French soluble, from Late Latin solūbilis, from Latin solvere (“to loosen”) +‎ -bilis. Piecewise doublet of solvable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒljʊbəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑljəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

soluble (comparative more soluble, superlative most soluble)

1. (chemistry) Able to be dissolved.

   Synonyms: dissolvable, dissoluble

   Antonym: insoluble

   Sugar is soluble in water.

   • 1867, Edmund Ronalds, Thomas Richardson, Chemical Technology, page 696:

     The new fulminate consists of a mixture of chlorate of potash, with the prussiates, soluble or unsoluble, the hyposulphites, the hypophosphites, the phosphides, the amorphous phosphorus, alone or combined.

2. Able to be solved or explained.

   Synonym: solvable

   Antonym: insoluble

   That mystery should be easily soluble.

Derived terms

• acetosoluble
• fat-soluble
• gastrosoluble
• hydrosoluble
• intersoluble
• liposoluble
• nonsoluble
• solubility
• solubilize
• soluble glass
• soluble insulin
• solubleness
• solubles
• solubly
• unsoluble
• water-soluble

Related terms

• insoluble
• solute

Translations

able to be dissolved

• Bulgarian: разтворим (bg) (raztvorim)
• Catalan: soluble
• Czech: rozpustný (cs) m
• Danish: opløselig
• Finnish: liukeneva (fi)
• French: soluble (fr)
• Galician: soluble (gl)
• German: löslich (de)
• Greek: διαλυτός (el) (dialytós)
• Hungarian: oldható (hu), oldódik (hu)
• Italian: solubile (it)
• Japanese: 溶ける (ja) (tokeru), 溶かせる (ja) (tokeseru)
• Māori: mehameha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: oppløselig

• Persian: حل‌شدنی (hal-šodani), حلپذیر (fa) (halpazir)
• Polish: rozpuszczalny (pl)
• Portuguese: solúvel (pt)
• Russian: раствори́мый (ru) (rastvorímyj)
• Spanish: soluble (es)
• Swedish: löslig (sv)
• Tagalog: lusawin
• Telugu: ద్రావణీయము (drāvaṇīyamu)
• Ukrainian: розчинний (rozčynnyj)
• Welsh: hydawdd (cy)

able to be solved or explained — see also solvable

• Bulgarian: решим (bg) (rešim)
• Catalan: soluble
• Danish: løselig
• Finnish: ratkaistavissa oleva
• German: lösbar (de)
• Japanese: 解ける (ja) (tokeru)
• Persian: حل‌شدنی (hal-šodani)
• Polish: rozwiązywalny, rozwiązalny
• Portuguese: solúvel (pt)
• Russian: разреши́мый (ru) (razrešímyj)
• Spanish: soluble (es)
• Swedish: lösbar (sv)

Anagrams

• boulles, lobules

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin solūbilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [suˈlub.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [soˈlu.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [soˈlub.ble]

Adjective

soluble m or f (masculine and feminine plural solubles)

1. soluble

   Antonym: insoluble

Derived terms

• hidrosoluble
• solubilitat

Further reading

• “soluble”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “soluble”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “soluble” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “soluble”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin solubilis, from Latin solvere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.lybl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

soluble (plural solubles)

1. soluble (that can be dissolved)

   Antonym: insoluble

   soluble dans l'eau ― water-soluble

   café soluble ― instant coffee

2. solvable (that can be solved)

   Synonym: résoluble

   Antonym: insoluble

Derived terms

• liposoluble

Related terms

• solubilité
• solvable

Further reading

• “soluble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Spanish

Etymology

Derived from Latin solubilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈluble/ [soˈlu.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -uble
• Syllabification: so‧lu‧ble

Adjective

soluble m or f (masculine and feminine plural solubles)

1. soluble

Derived terms

• hidrosoluble
• liposoluble
• solubilidad

Further reading

• “soluble”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025