Allowableness

/əˈlaʊəbəlnəs/ noun

Definition

The quality or state of being allowable; how much something is permitted or acceptable.

Etymology

From 'allowable' plus the suffix '-ness,' which forms abstract nouns describing qualities or states. The suffix '-ness' comes from Old English and has been used for over a thousand years to nominalize adjectives.

Kelly Says

While 'allowability' sounds more modern, 'allowableness' is the historically correct form that appeared in 18th and 19th-century legal texts, showing how English once preferred '-ness' for almost all adjective-to-noun conversions before we started mixing in Latin-style endings.

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.