decipherableadj.
/dᵻˈsʌɪf(ə)rəbl/, U.S. /dəˈsaɪf(ə)rəbəl/, /diˈsaɪf(ə)rəbəl/ 1. Discernible; discoverable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > [adjective] > capable of being discerned
decipherable1606
identifiable1804
1606 T. Dekker Newes from Hell sig. H2v In his countenance, there was a kinde of indignation, fighting with a kinde of exalted ioy, which by his very gesture were apparantly descipherable.
1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 334 The form which affairs in Europe may assume, is not yet decipherable by those out of the cabinet.
1851 Morning Chron. 11 Sept. 4/2 The glory of the church is its stained glass—too high, indeed, and too minute to render its subjects decipherable without a telescope.
1872 Daily News 25 Nov. 3/5 Of all those granite buildings which were the boast of Boston..not one remains in decipherable outline.
1936 N.Y. Herald Tribune 28 Sept. 30/6 All the inner workings of this alliance are not known, but the broad theory is clearly decipherable from what is known.
2008 T. Keiningham & L. Aksoy Why Loyalty Matters v. 142 That is a situational judgement, and there is not always a decipherable ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in every case.
2. Of a text, cipher, etc.: that may be decoded, translated, or rendered comprehensible or legible. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > [adjective] > capable of interpretation
interpretable1611
decipherable1664
inspectional1728
twistable1901
1664 G. Havers tr. T. Renaudot et al. Gen. Coll. Disc. Virtuosi France ii. Introd. 305 To decypher all common and decypherable Cyphers [Fr. Déchiffrer tous chiffres communs & déchiffrables].
1716 R. More Of First Invention of Writing (title page) Of secret writing, decypherable by the key.
1823 Ld. Byron Let. 12 Apr. (1980) X. 147 If my handwriting is not decypherable—I will try to make it legible.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters 135 Half-effaced but still decipherable characters.
1922 Observer 7 Apr. 7 a Your correspondent doubts whether the newsprint of to-day will survive in a decipherable form up to the year 2,000.
1969 K. Giles Death cracks Bottle ii. 17 I think my Pitman [sc. a shorthand notation] is decipherable.
2008 S. Alam Groom to have Been 122 Her world may have had its mysteries, but..it was a life whose customs and codes would always be decipherable.
Derivatives
deˈcipherably adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > interpretation > [adverb]
interpretatively1670
interpretably1679
decipherably1845
1845 Emancipator & Weekly Chron. (Boston) 10 July 44/2 Write plainly, if possible; write decipherably, any how, or don't write at all.
1993 R. Goldstein Strange Attractors Editor's Story 44 And scrawled all over the margins, in a frantic hand that was only just decipherably his, were the words ‘I shall burn this’.
2005 D. A. Bazell & L. H. Kant in W. Lewis & H. Rollman Restoring 1st Cent. Church in 21st Cent. 364 The team of epigraphers and geo-archaeologists studied the ossuary and declared it a forgery with a decipherably modern patina.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1606