Habitableness

/ˈhæbɪtəbəlnəs/ noun

Definition

The quality or condition of being habitable; the capacity of a place to be lived in.

Etymology

Formed from habitable (Latin habitabilis) plus the suffix -ness, which converts adjectives into nouns describing their abstract qualities. This word emerged in English around the 16th century as a more formal alternative to habitability.

Kelly Says

Before 'habitability' became the scientific standard, 'habitableness' was used interchangeably, but it fell out of favor because scientists preferred the cleaner Latin-derived -ity ending for technical terms.

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