describableadj.
/dᵻˈskrʌɪbəbl/, U.S. /dəˈskraɪbəb(ə)l/, /diˈskraɪbəb(ə)l/ That may be described; esp. capable of being portrayed or expressed in words.Since the 18th cent., less common than indescribable adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > [adjective]
explicit1549
expressible1605
effable1637
evolveda1641
describable1655
disimplicated1753
enunciable1825
talkable1830
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa III. ii. ii. 134 Is it possible to tell you the faire Altezeera's wonder..? No.., for were it describable, it would be lesse than it was.
1741 Hist. Wks. Learned Jan. 75 Polygons may be inscribed.., and yet other polygons still less different from the circle be describable.
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. ix. 156 Keill has reckoned up, in the human body, four hundred and forty-six muscles, dissectible and describable.
1878 A. Brassey Voy. Sunbeam xv. 269 Another shade, only describable by the term ‘molten-lava colour’.
1911 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 8 455 All reality is describable in terms of the physical sciences.
1967 C. L. Wrenn Word & Symbol 11 There is a kind of orchestrated language which conveys a mood of meaning but no clearly describable sense.
2003 R. Taylor How to read Church 9 In the person of Jesus, God became man, fully visible and describable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1655