supportableadj.

Brit.

/səˈpɔːtəbl/, U.S.

/səˈpɔrdəbəl/

Forms: see support v. and -able suffix.

Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: support v., -able suffix.

Etymology: < support v. + -able suffix. Compare Middle French, French supportable tolerable, bearable (1385).

I. In passive sense.

a. Bearable, tolerable, endurable.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective] > sufferable

sufferablea1340

supportablec1450

sustenable?1473

tolerablea1500

patible1623

bearable1656

endurable1800

the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [adjective] > forbearing or tolerant > endurable or tolerable

portablec1450

supportablec1450

tolerablea1500

durable1509

comportable1599

tractable1605

bearable1656

endurable1800

brookable1824

liveable1841

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) v. 1754 Som wenen we cristen, whanne we deye, We lese þing, to us that is supportable; I seye we lese þing that is disseyuable..a leuynge ful of stryf.

1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum iii. iv. 96 This thing seemed not supportable to the noble prince King Henrie the eight.

1599 E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1632) 61 It maketh all toyles supportable, all difficulties conquerable.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 147 Supportable To make the deere losse, haue I meanes much weaker Then you may call to comfort you.

1637 J. Bastwick Answer to Exceptions against Letany ii. 18/1 It is a prodigious wickednes..and a thing not supportable to compare the Creator of all things to the creature.

a1691 R. Boyle Gen. Hist. Air (1692) 158 The steams of their carcases would make the air so stinking and offensive, that it was scarce supportable.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 169. ¶3 Good-nature..makes even Folly and Impertinence supportable.

1785 W. Cowper Task v. 604 The loss of all That can..make frail life, Short as it is, supportable.

1810 S. Vince Elem. Astron. (ed. 3) xxi. 228 It grew very faint, and was easily supportable to the naked eye.

1894 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Ebb-tide i. i The thought of death is always the least supportable when it draws near to the merely sensual and selfish.

1955 C. S. Churchill Let. 5 Aug. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xxvii. 593 The pain is considerable but supportable.

2004 C. Wilson Moral Animals (2007) iv. 111 Civilization is a source of anguish that is barely supportable without the use of Schedule I narcotics.

†b. Able to be successfully resisted. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > [adjective] > resisting > resisted > able to be

resistable?1560

resistible1617

supportable1711

1711 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 157 Their..assault with such numbers not being supportable.

2. Able to be maintained, confirmed, or made good; defensible.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > [adjective] > capable of being supported

supportablec1454

sustentablea1623

sustainable1680

c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 34 Þis discrecioun now tauȝt and rehercid is so fyndable in resoun to be trewe þat..it is supportable and algatis to be alowid.

1575 G. Fenton Golden Epist. f. 155 The third opinion aduouched by M. Varo, albeit it be in some sort supportable, yet Jsidore satisfieth more at full.

1606 J. Finet tr. R. de Lucinge Beginning, Continuance, & Decay Estates i. iii. 22 How much more supportable are Cittadels, then armies ordinarily intertained.

1631 J. Burges Answer Reioyned 54 Some reason supportable by the word of God.

1756 J. Hanway Ess. Tea xxiv, in Jrnl. Eight Days Journey 345 With regard to our revenues, it is reasonable to believe that a naval war may be rendered supportable to us.

1793 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1891) XII. 290 To take fair and supportable ground I conceive to be our best policy.

1812 J. J. Henry Accurate Acct. Campaign against Quebec 173 These ideas are..supportable by the authority of some of the best physicians.

1885 Law Times Rep. 53 481/1 Bills containing charges which might not be supportable on taxation.

1961 Times 2 Oct. 13/2 The only supportable concentrations of power or wealth are those that are at the direct disposal of the state.

2011 M. Kranacher et al. Forensic Accounting & Fraud Exam. i. 28 Gradually, as the process is repeated and the hypotheses continue to be revised, you work toward what is the most likely and supportable conclusion.

3. In physical sense: able to be held up or sustained. Also figurative and in figurative contexts (passing into sense 1a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > support > [adjective] > able to be supported

supportable1597

1597 N. Ling Politeuphuia: Wits Common Wealth f. 7 Vertue in generall, is a Castle impregnable, a Ryuer that needeth no rowing, a Sea that moueth not, a treasure endlesse, an Army inuinsible, a burthen supportable.

1612 W. Leigh Queene Elizabeth 54 To make the yoke of their heauie gouernment more supportable.

1673 A. Behn Dutch Lover i. ii. 7 The burthen lightned will be more supportable.

1745 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 549/2 By its flexibility and lightness [the armour is] easily supportable.

1833 T. De Quincey Cæsars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 50/2 Obliged to cover..each space upon which they trode with parts of their dress, in order to gain any supportable footing.

1904 Science 22 July 116/2 Assuming the diameter of a water-duct to be half a millimeter, it is easy to estimate the weight supportable by a septum at its base.

1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men ii. 88 Annie Mae watches up at the ceiling, and she is as sick with sleep as if she had lain the night beneath a just-supportable weight.

1990 Amer. Math. Monthly 97 571 Suspend a weight from a horizontal bar, and ask for the maximum supportable load.

II. In active sense.

4. Affording support or assistance. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [adjective]

sustaining?c1425

affirmative?1504

supportable1531

upholding1553

supportive1593

supportful1610

underpropping1614

subjunctive1656

buttressing1672

supportative1803

upholdatory1829

sustenant1874

hand-holding1920

1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1938) I. ix. xvi. 390 Þe prayere of þis haly man wes richt supportabill to King Aydane.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. viii. 49 Þe favoure of goddis apperit to þame sa supportabill and helplie in all thare besines.

1578 J. Banister Hist. Man sig. Gii^v The supportable ground and framework of Bones.

1680 W. B. White Rose 2 I shall presume to advance the Superstructure a Story higher, since the Foundation seems so firm and supportable.

1762 E. Farneworth tr. N. Machiavelli Hist. Florence viii, in tr. N. Machiavelli Wks. I. 428 His Minister (who had lately returned from his Embassy in France) had the address to put things upon a much more supportable foundation with his Holiness.

1799 Filial Indiscretions I. i. 17 You will find that the Rights of Man is the only solid, and supportable foundation on which systems of political governments should be erected.

1993–4 TLC for Plants Winter 50/3 (advt.) It's tiny but comfy, strong and supportable, folds up as you see... Makes a fabulous chair in a dorm room.

Derivatives

† supportableness n. Obsolete rare

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [noun] > forbearance or tolerance > quality of being endurable or tolerable

comportableness1642

supportableness1649

patiency1655

tolerablenessa1678

bearableness1727

supportability1800

livableness1860

bearability1881

1649 H. Hammond Christians Obligations ii. 34 The supportablenesse of the burthen.

1856 Law Rep.: Chancery Appeal Cases 5 99 He is directly interested in its regularity or irregularity, supportableness or insupportableness.

supportaˈbility n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [noun] > forbearance or tolerance > quality of being endurable or tolerable

comportableness1642

supportableness1649

patiency1655

tolerablenessa1678

bearableness1727

supportability1800

livableness1860

bearability1881

1800 C. Alexander Columbian Dict. Eng. Lang. Supportability, the state of being tolerable.

1841 C. G. F. Gore Cecil (ed. 2) III. iv. 177 The chief captivation I found in Italy, was the blueness of its skies and the supportability of its winters.

a1871 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) II. 239 My new illustrious ‘study’ was definable as the least inhabitable..bit of human workmanship in that kind... But, by many and long-continued efforts..I did get it patched together into something of supportability.

1915 H. James Let. 1 Jan. (1920) II. 432 The comparative supportability of the fact of the wounded and the sick beside the desolating view of the ravaged refugees.

1962 ABA Jrnl. July 627/2 The expedited election of 8(b) (7) (C) above will be directed by the Board only upon its determination of the reasonableness and supportability of the 8(b) (7) unfair practice charge.

2001 Jrnl. Relig. 81 595 I believe that the case can be made for the supportability..of this aspect of classical theism.

suˈpportably adv.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [adverb] > endurably or tolerably

supportably1755

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Tolerably Supportably; in a manner that may be endured.

1859 J. W. De Forest Seacliff xxix. 412 Who can tell... What bloody sweat came from that poor soul in her hopeless Gethsemane, suffering selfishly, thanklessly, for her own sins, and not generously, supportably, for the sins of others!

1909 W. A. Ellis tr. R. Wagner Let. in Richard to Minna Wagner II. 517 Now only let's both get supportably well, to live as happy as the day is long when we do regain each other.

1950 Geophysical Abstr. No. 141. 132 A cylindrical casing positioned between said arms and formed with a viewing opening in its peripheral wall, axial bearing means on said casing having outer portions supportably engaging the related arms and maintaining said casing in fixed relation to said arms and said base.

2001 Speculum 76 1009 The scribe subtly minimized what some medieval readers considered the least supportably historical part of Arthuriana.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	supportable
释义	supportableadj. Brit. /səˈpɔːtəbl/, U.S. /səˈpɔrdəbəl/ Forms: see support v. and -able suffix. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: support v., -able suffix. Etymology: < support v. + -able suffix. Compare Middle French, French supportable tolerable, bearable (1385). I. In passive sense. 1. a. Bearable, tolerable, endurable. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > [adjective] > sufferable sufferablea1340 supportablec1450 sustenable?1473 tolerablea1500 patible1623 bearable1656 endurable1800 the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [adjective] > forbearing or tolerant > endurable or tolerable portablec1450 supportablec1450 tolerablea1500 durable1509 comportable1599 tractable1605 bearable1656 endurable1800 brookable1824 liveable1841 c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) v. 1754 Som wenen we cristen, whanne we deye, We lese þing, to us that is supportable; I seye we lese þing that is disseyuable..a leuynge ful of stryf. 1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum iii. iv. 96 This thing seemed not supportable to the noble prince King Henrie the eight. 1599 E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1632) 61 It maketh all toyles supportable, all difficulties conquerable. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 147 Supportable To make the deere losse, haue I meanes much weaker Then you may call to comfort you. View more context for this quotation 1637 J. Bastwick Answer to Exceptions against Letany ii. 18/1 It is a prodigious wickednes..and a thing not supportable to compare the Creator of all things to the creature. a1691 R. Boyle Gen. Hist. Air (1692) 158 The steams of their carcases would make the air so stinking and offensive, that it was scarce supportable. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 169. ¶3 Good-nature..makes even Folly and Impertinence supportable. 1785 W. Cowper Task v. 604 The loss of all That can..make frail life, Short as it is, supportable. 1810 S. Vince Elem. Astron. (ed. 3) xxi. 228 It grew very faint, and was easily supportable to the naked eye. 1894 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Ebb-tide i. i The thought of death is always the least supportable when it draws near to the merely sensual and selfish. 1955 C. S. Churchill Let. 5 Aug. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) xxvii. 593 The pain is considerable but supportable. 2004 C. Wilson Moral Animals (2007) iv. 111 Civilization is a source of anguish that is barely supportable without the use of Schedule I narcotics. †b. Able to be successfully resisted. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > [adjective] > resisting > resisted > able to be resistable?1560 resistible1617 supportable1711 1711 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 157 Their..assault with such numbers not being supportable. 2. Able to be maintained, confirmed, or made good; defensible. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > [adjective] > capable of being supported supportablec1454 sustentablea1623 sustainable1680 c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 34 Þis discrecioun now tauȝt and rehercid is so fyndable in resoun to be trewe þat..it is supportable and algatis to be alowid. 1575 G. Fenton Golden Epist. f. 155 The third opinion aduouched by M. Varo, albeit it be in some sort supportable, yet Jsidore satisfieth more at full. 1606 J. Finet tr. R. de Lucinge Beginning, Continuance, & Decay Estates i. iii. 22 How much more supportable are Cittadels, then armies ordinarily intertained. 1631 J. Burges Answer Reioyned 54 Some reason supportable by the word of God. 1756 J. Hanway Ess. Tea xxiv, in Jrnl. Eight Days Journey 345 With regard to our revenues, it is reasonable to believe that a naval war may be rendered supportable to us. 1793 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1891) XII. 290 To take fair and supportable ground I conceive to be our best policy. 1812 J. J. Henry Accurate Acct. Campaign against Quebec 173 These ideas are..supportable by the authority of some of the best physicians. 1885 Law Times Rep. 53 481/1 Bills containing charges which might not be supportable on taxation. 1961 Times 2 Oct. 13/2 The only supportable concentrations of power or wealth are those that are at the direct disposal of the state. 2011 M. Kranacher et al. Forensic Accounting & Fraud Exam. i. 28 Gradually, as the process is repeated and the hypotheses continue to be revised, you work toward what is the most likely and supportable conclusion. 3. In physical sense: able to be held up or sustained. Also figurative and in figurative contexts (passing into sense 1a). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > support > [adjective] > able to be supported supportable1597 1597 N. Ling Politeuphuia: Wits Common Wealth f. 7 Vertue in generall, is a Castle impregnable, a Ryuer that needeth no rowing, a Sea that moueth not, a treasure endlesse, an Army inuinsible, a burthen supportable. 1612 W. Leigh Queene Elizabeth 54 To make the yoke of their heauie gouernment more supportable. 1673 A. Behn Dutch Lover i. ii. 7 The burthen lightned will be more supportable. 1745 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 549/2 By its flexibility and lightness [the armour is] easily supportable. 1833 T. De Quincey Cæsars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 50/2 Obliged to cover..each space upon which they trode with parts of their dress, in order to gain any supportable footing. 1904 Science 22 July 116/2 Assuming the diameter of a water-duct to be half a millimeter, it is easy to estimate the weight supportable by a septum at its base. 1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men ii. 88 Annie Mae watches up at the ceiling, and she is as sick with sleep as if she had lain the night beneath a just-supportable weight. 1990 Amer. Math. Monthly 97 571 Suspend a weight from a horizontal bar, and ask for the maximum supportable load. II. In active sense. 4. Affording support or assistance. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [adjective] sustaining?c1425 affirmative?1504 supportable1531 upholding1553 supportive1593 supportful1610 underpropping1614 subjunctive1656 buttressing1672 supportative1803 upholdatory1829 sustenant1874 hand-holding1920 1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Chron. Scotl. (1938) I. ix. xvi. 390 Þe prayere of þis haly man wes richt supportabill to King Aydane. 1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. viii. 49 Þe favoure of goddis apperit to þame sa supportabill and helplie in all thare besines. 1578 J. Banister Hist. Man sig. Gii^v The supportable ground and framework of Bones. 1680 W. B. White Rose 2 I shall presume to advance the Superstructure a Story higher, since the Foundation seems so firm and supportable. 1762 E. Farneworth tr. N. Machiavelli Hist. Florence viii, in tr. N. Machiavelli Wks. I. 428 His Minister (who had lately returned from his Embassy in France) had the address to put things upon a much more supportable foundation with his Holiness. 1799 Filial Indiscretions I. i. 17 You will find that the Rights of Man is the only solid, and supportable foundation on which systems of political governments should be erected. 1993–4 TLC for Plants Winter 50/3 (advt.) It's tiny but comfy, strong and supportable, folds up as you see... Makes a fabulous chair in a dorm room. Derivatives † supportableness n. Obsolete rare ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [noun] > forbearance or tolerance > quality of being endurable or tolerable comportableness1642 supportableness1649 patiency1655 tolerablenessa1678 bearableness1727 supportability1800 livableness1860 bearability1881 1649 H. Hammond Christians Obligations ii. 34 The supportablenesse of the burthen. 1856 Law Rep.: Chancery Appeal Cases 5 99 He is directly interested in its regularity or irregularity, supportableness or insupportableness. supportaˈbility n. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [noun] > forbearance or tolerance > quality of being endurable or tolerable comportableness1642 supportableness1649 patiency1655 tolerablenessa1678 bearableness1727 supportability1800 livableness1860 bearability1881 1800 C. Alexander Columbian Dict. Eng. Lang. Supportability, the state of being tolerable. 1841 C. G. F. Gore Cecil (ed. 2) III. iv. 177 The chief captivation I found in Italy, was the blueness of its skies and the supportability of its winters. a1871 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) II. 239 My new illustrious ‘study’ was definable as the least inhabitable..bit of human workmanship in that kind... But, by many and long-continued efforts..I did get it patched together into something of supportability. 1915 H. James Let. 1 Jan. (1920) II. 432 The comparative supportability of the fact of the wounded and the sick beside the desolating view of the ravaged refugees. 1962 ABA Jrnl. July 627/2 The expedited election of 8(b) (7) (C) above will be directed by the Board only upon its determination of the reasonableness and supportability of the 8(b) (7) unfair practice charge. 2001 Jrnl. Relig. 81 595 I believe that the case can be made for the supportability..of this aspect of classical theism. suˈpportably adv. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > calmness > patience > [adverb] > endurably or tolerably supportably1755 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. at Tolerably Supportably; in a manner that may be endured. 1859 J. W. De Forest Seacliff xxix. 412 Who can tell... What bloody sweat came from that poor soul in her hopeless Gethsemane, suffering selfishly, thanklessly, for her own sins, and not generously, supportably, for the sins of others! 1909 W. A. Ellis tr. R. Wagner Let. in Richard to Minna Wagner II. 517 Now only let's both get supportably well, to live as happy as the day is long when we do regain each other. 1950 Geophysical Abstr. No. 141. 132 A cylindrical casing positioned between said arms and formed with a viewing opening in its peripheral wall, axial bearing means on said casing having outer portions supportably engaging the related arms and maintaining said casing in fixed relation to said arms and said base. 2001 Speculum 76 1009 The scribe subtly minimized what some medieval readers considered the least supportably historical part of Arthuriana. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.c1450
随便看	besetters besetting besew besewed beshackle beshade beshaded beshadow beshadowed beshadowing beshadows beshag beshake beshame beshamed beshames beshaming beshat beshawled beshear beshed beshend beshield beshine beshining