[1650–60; construe + -able]This word is first recorded in the period 1650–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: backhand, parameter, romantic, siphon, syllabus-able is a suffix meaning “capable of, susceptible of, fit for, tending to, given to,”associated in meaning with the word able, occurring in loanwords from Latin (laudable); used in English as a highly productive suffix to form adjectives by addition tostems of any origin (teachable; photographable)