Removable

How to spell removable

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce removable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does removable mean?

1. adjectiveAble to be taken off or away from something without permanent damage.

Removable in a sentence

• The laptop has a removable battery that you can swap in seconds.

• The cot comes with a removable cover that you can wash separately.

Where does removable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb movere, meaning 'to move', combined with the prefix re-, which here carries the sense of 'back' or 'away'. From these came the Latin removere, 'to move back' or 'to take away', and English adopted the verb 'remove' through Old French during the 1300s. The suffix -able, from the Latin -abilis meaning 'capable of being', was then attached to form 'removable', describing something that can be taken away. The spelling trap lies in the silent final 'e' of 'move': it is dropped before -able, so the word is 'removable' and not 'removeable'. The same movere root powers a large family of relatives such as 'motion', 'motor', 'movie', and 'remote'.

How the word is built

• re- (back, away)
• mov (from movere: to move)
• -able (capable of being)