Required to be paid; due for payment. Able to be paid or capable of being settled with money.
From Old French paiable, derived from paier 'to pay' (from Latin pacare 'to pacify' or 'to satisfy'). The suffix -able indicates capability or requirement, creating the meaning 'able to be paid' or 'required to be paid.'
In medieval times, 'payable' often referred to obligations that could be settled in goods or services rather than money, since currency was scarce. The phrase 'accounts payable' in modern business represents one of the oldest concepts in commerce - the systematic tracking of what a business owes to others.
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