# -ible
## English
### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA or enPR then please add some!
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Alternative forms

* -able (productive)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ibilis.

#### Suffix

-ible
* An adjective suffix, now usually in a passive sense; forms adjectives meaning "able to be", "relevant or suitable to, in accordance with", or expressing capacity or worthiness in a passive sense.
    convertible

##### Usage notes

* The form -able is usually used in the same sense and is pronounced the same, though sometimes equivalent terms have diverged in meaning: compare suggestable (“capable of being suggested”) with suggestible (“susceptible to influence by suggestion”).
* Generally not productive in English – most words ending in -ible are borrowed from Latin, or Old or Middle French, while -able is more common for producing new words. Examples of production in English include collectible and gullible.
* In general, forms derived from Latin verbs of the second, third, and fourth conjugations take -ible, as well as a few words whose roots end in a soft c or g. All other words take -able, particularly words from the Latin first conjugation, words that evolved through French, and words from Anglo-Saxon.
* Fowler, in his English Usage, recommended using -ible for simplicity in spelling with any verb whose root ends in a soft c or g (such as changible vs. changeable), but this recommendation has generally not been followed.
* Adjectives ending in -ible are occasionally nominalized, as in dirigible, foible, submersible. The adjective sense may become obsolete, as in foible.
* A few words end in “ible” but are not related to this suffix, instead being of different origin, generally a similar Latin suffix. Examples include crucible and mandible. See Etymology 2, below, for details.

##### Derived terms

* -ibly
* accessible
* admissible
* alible
* apprehensible
* audible
* collectible
* combustible
* comestible
* compatible
* comprehensible
* compressible
* concupiscible
* contemptible
* convertible
* corrigible
* corruptible
* credible
* deductible
* defeasible
* defensible
* destructible
* diffusible
* digestible
* dirigible
* discernible
* distensible
* divisible
* edible
* eligible
* emulsible
* expansible
* extensible
* fallible
* feasible
* flexible
* foible
* forcible
* frangible
* fungible
* fusible
* gullible
* horrible
* illegible
* immersible
* immiscible
* impartible
* impassible
* imperceptible
* impermissible
* implausible
* impossible
* impressible
* inaccessible
* inadmissible
* inaudible
* incoercible
* incombustible
* incompatible
* incomprehensible
* incompressible
* incontrovertible
* inconvertible
* inconvincible
* incorrigible
* incorruptible
* incredible
* indefeasible
* indefectible
* indefensible
* indelible
* indestructible
* indigestible
* indiscernible
* indivisible
* inedible
* ineligible
* inexhaustible
* inexpressible
* inextensible
* infallible
* infeasible
* inflexible
* infrangible
* infusible
* insensible
* insuppressible
* insusceptible
* intangible
* intelligible
* invincible
* invisible
* irascible
* irreducible
* irrefrangible
* irremissible
* irrepressible
* irresistible
* irresponsible
* irreversible
* legible
* miscible
* negligible
* nondeductible
* omissible
* ostensible
* partible
* passible
* perceptible
* perfectible
* permissible
* persuasible
* plausible
* plug-compatible
* possible
* prescriptible
* putrescible
* refrangible
* remissible
* reprehensible
* resistible
* responsible
* reversible
* risible
* runcible spoon
* self-compatible
* self-incompatible
* semiflexible
* semisubmersible
* sensible
* submergible
* submersible
* suggestible
* supersensible
* susceptible
* tangible
* tax-deductible
* terrible
* transmissible
* unintelligible
* unsusceptible
* vendible
* vincible
* visible

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### See also

* able
* Category:English unproductive suffixes

### Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -i- + -bulum (instrumental suffix) or -bula (instrumental suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom. Related to Latin suffixes -brum (candelabrum) and -bra (vertebra).

#### Suffix

-ible
* An instrumental suffix; forms nouns representing:
** a tool or instrument
    crucible, mandible, thurible
** a place or location

##### Usage notes

This use of -ible is not productive in English. Confusion may arise from mistaking nouns ending with this suffix as being forms derived from the adjectival suffixes mentioned in Etymology 1 above.

##### Derived terms

* crucible
* mandible
* thurible

### Anagrams

* bile, Biel, beli, Lieb

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin -ibilis.

### Suffix

-ible m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ibles)
* -ible, -able

#### Usage notes

* This suffix is used for verbs of the second and third conjugations, which end in -er, -re or -ir. For the first-conjugation verbs, which end in -ar, the suffix is -able.

#### Derived terms
## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French -ible, from Latin -ibilis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ibl/

### Suffix

-ible (plural -ibles)
* -ible

#### Derived terms
### Further reading

* “-ible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin -ibilis.

### Suffix

-ible
* -ible (variant of -able)

## Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ibilis.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈible/ [ˈi.β̞le]
* Rhymes: -ible
* Syllabification: -i‧ble

### Suffix

-ible m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ibles)
* -ible

#### Related terms

* -able

### Further reading

* “-ible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10