Capable of being made alkaline or converted into an alkali.
From 'alkalify' (to make alkaline) + '-able' (capable of). Alkalify comes from 'alkali' (from Arabic al-qali, plant ashes) + Latin '-ficare' (to make). The concept developed in chemistry during the 17th-18th centuries.
This word is rarely used because most chemists just say 'can be made alkaline,' but it shows how English speakers tried to build systematic chemistry vocabulary by adding '-able' to action verbs—a pattern that created thousands of scientific terms.
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