Attainable

How to spell attainable

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce attainable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does attainable mean?

1. adjectiveAble to be achieved or reached with effort.

Attainable in a sentence

• The manager set a realistic, attainable target for the quarter.

• Saving that much each month is attainable if you cut a few subscriptions.

Where does attainable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb attingere, meaning 'to touch' or 'to reach', which was formed from ad- ('to, toward') and tangere ('to touch'). As Latin softened into Old French, attingere became ataindre or atteindre, carrying the sense of reaching or arriving at something, and English borrowed the verb 'attain' from this Old French form in the 1300s. The adjective 'attainable' was then built in English by adding the productive suffix -able, giving the meaning 'able to be reached or achieved'. The same Latin tangere that supplies the 'tain' here also sits behind familiar words like 'tangent', 'tangible', and 'contact', all of which keep the idea of touching. The spelling trap is twofold: the double t at the start (mirroring the verb 'attain') and the -able ending, which writers sometimes swap for the more learned-looking -ible.

How the word is built

• at- (from ad-: to, toward)
• tain (from Latin tangere: to touch, reach)
• -able (capable of being)