superableadj.
/ˈsuːp(ə)rəbl/, /ˈsjuːp(ə)rəbl/, U.S. /ˈsup(ə)rəbəl/ Now rare.
Capable of being overcome; surmountable. Opposed to insuperable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > feasible > able to be overcome
overcomablec1454
vincible?1555
conquerable1599
surmountable1611
surpassable1611
superable1629
facile1667
transcendible1953
1629 T. Hobbes tr. Thucydides Eight Bks. Peloponnesian Warre 113 Yet if he be superable by mony, [he] will for that alone set all the rest to sale.
1686 R. Boyle Free Enq. Notion Nature 32 I must take leave to complain..of the scarce superable Difficulty of the Task.
1724 T. Townsend tr. A. de Solis Hist. Conquest Mexico iv. xvi. 224 By his single Resolution and Example he render'd superable those Difficulties which had put all the rest to a Stand.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 126. ⁋9 Antipathies are generally superable by a single effort.
1815 J. Jebb Let. 18 Jan. in J. Jebb & A. Knox Thirty Years' Corr. (1834) II. 208 Nothing fairly superable should prevent my forthwith obeying, the welcome summons to B——.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 139 The physician must be on his guard not to be put off from urging..places of cure, by protestations of hindrances which in health would have been superable enough.
1922 School Rev. Sept. 528 The difficulties in the way are by no means few or easily superable.
2000 W. Self How Dead Live (2001) vi. 145 Lily stops to consult her map... All she wants to do is confirm the distance as superable.
Derivatives
ˌsuperaˈbility n. rare capability of being overcome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun] > overcoming difficulties > ability to be overcome
conquerableness1640
superableness1673
superability1889
1889 Christian Union (N.Y.) 10 Jan. 40/3 The superability of all obstacles.
1990 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Mar. 335/1 Their superability remains a more open question.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [noun] > overcoming difficulties > ability to be overcome
conquerableness1640
superableness1673
superability1889
1673 E. Polhill Divine Will 531 Our Saviours words shew not forth the weakness or superableness of Grace as to the Elect, but [etc.].
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Superableness.
ˈsuperably adv. rare so as to be superable, in a manner that may be overcome.
ΚΠ
1801 J. A. Fahrenkrüger Bailey's Dict. Eng.-German & German-Eng. (new ed.) II. 546/1 Ueberwindlich,..adv., conquerably, superably, vincibly, surmountably.
1905 Proc. Optical Convent. 86 It is easy to make oneself artificially myopic in one meridian and superably hyperopic in another.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1629