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-able

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-able

 
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a suffix meaning “capable of, susceptible of, fit for, tending to, given to,” associated in meaning with the word able, occurring in loanwords from Latin (laudable); used in English as a highly productive suffix to form adjectives by addition to stems of any origin (teachable; photographable).
Also, -ble, -ible.

Origin:
ME < OF < L -ābilis, equiv. to -ā- final vowel of 1st conjugation v. stems + -bilis
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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-able or -ible  
suff.  

  1. Susceptible, capable, or worthy of a specified action: debatable.

  2. Inclined or given to a specified state or action: changeable.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ābilis, -ibilis : -ā- and -i-, thematic vowels + -bilis, adj. suff.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

-able 
suffix expressing ability, capacity, fitness, from L. -ibilis, -abilis, forming adjectives from verbs, from PIE *-tro-, a suffix used to form nouns of instrument. In L., infinitives in -are took -abilis, others -ibilis; in Eng., -able is used for native words, -ible for words of obvious L. origin. The Latin suffix is not etymologically connected with able, but it long has been popularly associated with it, and this has contributed to its survival as a living suffix. It is related to the second syllable of rudder and saddle.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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