† improvableadj.¹

Forms: 1600s improueable, 1600s improveable, 1600s–1700s improvable.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: improve v.¹, -able suffix.

Etymology: < improve v.¹ + -able suffix. Compare Spanish †improvable (1599 in Minsheu). N.E.D. (1899) gives the stress on the second syllable.

Obsolete.

Capable of being disproved or refuted; that is to be censured or condemned.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > [adjective] > capable of being refuted

traversable?1530

deniable1548

repugnable1578

refutable1600

improvable1604

revincible1633

confutable1638

convincible1643

rebuttable1646

overthrowable1653

disprovable1686

improbative1754

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > [adjective] > worthy of disapproval

disprovable1548

improvable1604

disapprovable1610

1604 R. Parsons 3rd Pt. Treat. Conuersions in Treat. Three Conuersions Eng. II. viii. 411 They were ashamed to bring forth so improueable a testimony.

1648 H. Hammond Brief Vindic. 11 A bare explication of a phrase of Scripture..though it were acknowledged false, or forc'd, should yet be so far improvable by any, as to come under the title of an infamous pernicious error.

1712 J. Warder True Amazons 18 His Brain..hath brought forth these improvable Maggots into the World.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

improvableadj.²

Brit.

/ɪmˈpruːvəbl/, U.S.

/ᵻmˈpruvəb(ə)l/

Forms: 1600s improueable, 1600s–1800s improveable, 1600s– improvable.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: improve v.², -able suffix.

Etymology: < improve v.² + -able suffix.

†1. Capable of being increased in cost or monetary value. Cf. improve v.² 5, 1a. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia 88 Particularize Qualities, Contents, Rents (instant and improueable) Perquisites, Parallels and other Reuenewables and Respectiues, with vendible and distinct Estimates.

1642 B. Whitelocke Message House of Commons to Lords He then shewed how much the preservation of it [sc. Ireland] conduced to the Kings profit, and how improveable this would be, by keeping that.

a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Hants. 15 All his Estate in Land, of very improveable Rents, to the Value of One Hundred and Thirty Pounds per annum.

1747 Dublin Jrnl. 29 Sept. (advt.) To be sold the Town and Lands of Ballykerin..set to good Protestant Freeholders for 3 Lives, at an improveable Rent for 180l. a Year.

1755 Public Advertiser 22 Dec. (advt.) A single Person..may partake of the Profits this Money is designed to be laid out in, and added to the same Capital, on certain improveable Advantages and Profits.

1839 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 25 Feb. The due management of such a property, with such an improvable revenue, is the most efficient method of advancing the interests of the inhabitants.

1897 Standard 13 Nov. 12/6 Several desirable Properties, let at improvable rents.

†a. Capable of being turned to profit or good account; profitable; useful, serviceable. Obsolete except as implied in sense 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [adjective] > usable > able to be turned to account

improvable1629

exploitable1887

1629 T. Jackson Treat. Divine Essence ii. 76 Whose condition or estate is..so changeable and so improveable to different purposes, that [etc.].

1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. v. v. sig. Kk8^v I think it a less improvable Prerogative, to be able to coyn any Metal into mony, or call it in at pleasure.

1692 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Future Judgem. (ed. 2) 316 Every thing that is improveable to the service and glory of God, is a talent.

a1734 R. North Lives of Norths (1826) II. 8 Finding this project of a penny-post turn out so well, and apparently improvable.

1799 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 74 When I go over the houses I shall see how improvable they are.

1853 My Scrapes & Escapes 264 One of the most extensive and improvable businesses in the country.

b. spec. Of land, a property, etc.: capable of being profitably cultivated; capable of being made more valuable or productive by cultivation or development. Now historical except as merged with sense 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [adjective]

gainable1480

manurable1600

plantable1640

culturable1642

improvable1653

cultivable1682

wainable1706

cultivatable1761

cultivatible1803

1653 J. Hall Let. Dissolution Parl. 8 Men that had money..were content to take improveable Lands as 5 years purchase.

1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 28 Though a rich, yet still such an improveable soyl, as will incourage and reward his Husbandry.

1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. ii. 2 All the Land improvable for such uses being already taken up.

1701 London Gaz. No. 3720/4 The Premisses (which are very Improvable by Limestone on the Place).

1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 245 Improveable is an indefinite term; and the last generation thought many spots unworthy of culture, which we now see converted into good arable land.

1813 G. Edwards Appropriate Meas. True Policy 25 The improveable land of the whole Kingdom.

1844 Trans. Soc. for Encouragement of Arts, Manuf. & Commerce 54 45 These would, doubtless, be very favourable terms for a farmer in England to enter upon an improvable farm.

1960 Eng. Hist. Rev. 75 56 The town, admirably placed..where good arable meets improvable fen, was a prosperous place.

2006 Agric. Hist. Rev. 54 246 On lowland commons..as little as five or six per cent was sold, comprising improvable land of relatively high value.

3. Capable of being made better; that may be brought into a higher or more desirable condition or state. Formerly also with †into: cf. improve v.² 6c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adjective] > capable of improvement

mendable1533

improvable1649

ameliorable1807

1649 Bp. J. Taylor Apol. Litvrgie 14 The first beginnings are certainly as improveable as the next degrees.

a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. ii. 68 Moral principles inherent in his Nature, and improvable by the exercise of his Faculties.

1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. App. 56 Maps and Sea-Draughts are always improvable.

1715 R. South 12 Serm. IV. 81 Here is indeed something improveable into a bright and a noble Perfection.

1762 G.-A. Gallini Treat. Art of Dancing 273 Furnished rather as hints of the improvable nature of such compositions, than in the least meant for models of them.

1803 J. Stewart Opus Maximum 34 Suppose the subject to be an improvable law, an improvable government, or an improvable mode of individual conduct.

1870 W. Black Kilmeny (1877) 284 I should not offer you the advice if I did not think you were improvable.

1904 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 1 446 Contrary to James's dictum, ‘pure’ memory is markedly improvable in practice; it improves with age.

1971 A. Gray in Scottish Field Dec. 39/1 Vague..was modest enough to know that his appliance was improvable.

2013 Evening Standard (Nexis) 20 June 40 The daiquiri is immediately improvable..by using golden caster sugar.

Derivatives

imˈprovably adv. in a manner that admits of improvement; (also) so as to result in improvement.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adverb] > in manner that admits of improvement

improvably1755

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Improvably, in a manner that admits of melioration.

1774 R. B. Sailor's Lett. (?1800) 39 I passed my time pleasantly..and which is of more consequence, improveably.

1842 Gardeners' Gaz. 26 Nov. 774/2 Hammers..may have their wooden handles thus improvably fixed.

1908 Min. Evid. Royal Comm. Care & Control Feeble-minded I. 217/2 The proportion of children..taught as improvably feeble-minded.

2012 J. Broackes Iris Murdoch, Philosopher Pref. p. v The discovery of our own nature as beings capable (very variously, but improvably) of reasoning and moral attention.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	improvable
释义	† improvableadj.¹ Forms: 1600s improueable, 1600s improveable, 1600s–1700s improvable. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: improve v.¹, -able suffix. Etymology: < improve v.¹ + -able suffix. Compare Spanish †improvable (1599 in Minsheu). N.E.D. (1899) gives the stress on the second syllable. Obsolete. Capable of being disproved or refuted; that is to be censured or condemned. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > [adjective] > capable of being refuted traversable?1530 deniable1548 repugnable1578 refutable1600 improvable1604 revincible1633 confutable1638 convincible1643 rebuttable1646 overthrowable1653 disprovable1686 improbative1754 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > [adjective] > worthy of disapproval disprovable1548 improvable1604 disapprovable1610 1604 R. Parsons 3rd Pt. Treat. Conuersions in Treat. Three Conuersions Eng. II. viii. 411 They were ashamed to bring forth so improueable a testimony. 1648 H. Hammond Brief Vindic. 11 A bare explication of a phrase of Scripture..though it were acknowledged false, or forc'd, should yet be so far improvable by any, as to come under the title of an infamous pernicious error. 1712 J. Warder True Amazons 18 His Brain..hath brought forth these improvable Maggots into the World. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2020). improvableadj.² Brit. /ɪmˈpruːvəbl/, U.S. /ᵻmˈpruvəb(ə)l/ Forms: 1600s improueable, 1600s–1800s improveable, 1600s– improvable. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: improve v.², -able suffix. Etymology: < improve v.² + -able suffix. †1. Capable of being increased in cost or monetary value. Cf. improve v.² 5, 1a. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia 88 Particularize Qualities, Contents, Rents (instant and improueable) Perquisites, Parallels and other Reuenewables and Respectiues, with vendible and distinct Estimates. 1642 B. Whitelocke Message House of Commons to Lords He then shewed how much the preservation of it [sc. Ireland] conduced to the Kings profit, and how improveable this would be, by keeping that. a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Hants. 15 All his Estate in Land, of very improveable Rents, to the Value of One Hundred and Thirty Pounds per annum. 1747 Dublin Jrnl. 29 Sept. (advt.) To be sold the Town and Lands of Ballykerin..set to good Protestant Freeholders for 3 Lives, at an improveable Rent for 180l. a Year. 1755 Public Advertiser 22 Dec. (advt.) A single Person..may partake of the Profits this Money is designed to be laid out in, and added to the same Capital, on certain improveable Advantages and Profits. 1839 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 25 Feb. The due management of such a property, with such an improvable revenue, is the most efficient method of advancing the interests of the inhabitants. 1897 Standard 13 Nov. 12/6 Several desirable Properties, let at improvable rents. 2. †a. Capable of being turned to profit or good account; profitable; useful, serviceable. Obsolete except as implied in sense 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [adjective] > usable > able to be turned to account improvable1629 exploitable1887 1629 T. Jackson Treat. Divine Essence ii. 76 Whose condition or estate is..so changeable and so improveable to different purposes, that [etc.]. 1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. v. v. sig. Kk8^v I think it a less improvable Prerogative, to be able to coyn any Metal into mony, or call it in at pleasure. 1692 W. Sherlock Pract. Disc. Future Judgem. (ed. 2) 316 Every thing that is improveable to the service and glory of God, is a talent. a1734 R. North Lives of Norths (1826) II. 8 Finding this project of a penny-post turn out so well, and apparently improvable. 1799 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 74 When I go over the houses I shall see how improvable they are. 1853 My Scrapes & Escapes 264 One of the most extensive and improvable businesses in the country. b. spec. Of land, a property, etc.: capable of being profitably cultivated; capable of being made more valuable or productive by cultivation or development. Now historical except as merged with sense 3. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > [adjective] gainable1480 manurable1600 plantable1640 culturable1642 improvable1653 cultivable1682 wainable1706 cultivatable1761 cultivatible1803 1653 J. Hall Let. Dissolution Parl. 8 Men that had money..were content to take improveable Lands as 5 years purchase. 1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling 28 Though a rich, yet still such an improveable soyl, as will incourage and reward his Husbandry. 1677 W. Hubbard Narr. Troubles with Indians New-Eng. ii. 2 All the Land improvable for such uses being already taken up. 1701 London Gaz. No. 3720/4 The Premisses (which are very Improvable by Limestone on the Place). 1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 245 Improveable is an indefinite term; and the last generation thought many spots unworthy of culture, which we now see converted into good arable land. 1813 G. Edwards Appropriate Meas. True Policy 25 The improveable land of the whole Kingdom. 1844 Trans. Soc. for Encouragement of Arts, Manuf. & Commerce 54 45 These would, doubtless, be very favourable terms for a farmer in England to enter upon an improvable farm. 1960 Eng. Hist. Rev. 75 56 The town, admirably placed..where good arable meets improvable fen, was a prosperous place. 2006 Agric. Hist. Rev. 54 246 On lowland commons..as little as five or six per cent was sold, comprising improvable land of relatively high value. 3. Capable of being made better; that may be brought into a higher or more desirable condition or state. Formerly also with †into: cf. improve v.² 6c. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adjective] > capable of improvement mendable1533 improvable1649 ameliorable1807 1649 Bp. J. Taylor Apol. Litvrgie 14 The first beginnings are certainly as improveable as the next degrees. a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) i. ii. 68 Moral principles inherent in his Nature, and improvable by the exercise of his Faculties. 1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. App. 56 Maps and Sea-Draughts are always improvable. 1715 R. South 12 Serm. IV. 81 Here is indeed something improveable into a bright and a noble Perfection. 1762 G.-A. Gallini Treat. Art of Dancing 273 Furnished rather as hints of the improvable nature of such compositions, than in the least meant for models of them. 1803 J. Stewart Opus Maximum 34 Suppose the subject to be an improvable law, an improvable government, or an improvable mode of individual conduct. 1870 W. Black Kilmeny (1877) 284 I should not offer you the advice if I did not think you were improvable. 1904 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 1 446 Contrary to James's dictum, ‘pure’ memory is markedly improvable in practice; it improves with age. 1971 A. Gray in Scottish Field Dec. 39/1 Vague..was modest enough to know that his appliance was improvable. 2013 Evening Standard (Nexis) 20 June 40 The daiquiri is immediately improvable..by using golden caster sugar. Derivatives imˈprovably adv. in a manner that admits of improvement; (also) so as to result in improvement. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adverb] > in manner that admits of improvement improvably1755 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Improvably, in a manner that admits of melioration. 1774 R. B. Sailor's Lett. (?1800) 39 I passed my time pleasantly..and which is of more consequence, improveably. 1842 Gardeners' Gaz. 26 Nov. 774/2 Hammers..may have their wooden handles thus improvably fixed. 1908 Min. Evid. Royal Comm. Care & Control Feeble-minded I. 217/2 The proportion of children..taught as improvably feeble-minded. 2012 J. Broackes Iris Murdoch, Philosopher Pref. p. v The discovery of our own nature as beings capable (very variously, but improvably) of reasoning and moral attention. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.¹1604adj.²1610
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† improvableadj.1

improvableadj.2

Derivatives

† improvableadj.¹

improvableadj.²