What does abrogable mean?
Abrogable is a formal legal adjective describing something — typically a law, treaty, right, or contractual provision — that is capable of being abrogated, that is, formally repealed, annulled, or abolished by a competent authority. It derives from the Latin abrogare, formed from ab- ('away') and rogare ('to propose a law'), the same root that gives us abrogate, arrogate, and interrogate. The word appears almost exclusively in constitutional, statutory, and international-law contexts, where lawyers and scholars distinguish between provisions that are entrenched and those that remain abrogable at the will of the legislature. Its natural opposites include inviolable and irrevocable. Though rare in general usage, it is a precise and useful term for expressing that a commitment, however solemn, retains a built-in mechanism for its own undoing.
adjectiveCapable of being abrogated; able to be formally repealed, annulled, or abolished, especially by an authoritative act such as legislation.
- Capable of being abrogated — formally repealed, annulled, or abolished by proper authority.
"The treaty's provisions were widely regarded as abrogable only by mutual consent of both signatories."
"Critics argued that fundamental rights should not be treated as merely abrogable at the legislature's convenience."
"The charter's clauses were explicitly abrogable, allowing either party to withdraw with ninety days' notice."
If a law is abrogable, it carries its own built-in escape clause — a reminder that even solemn legal commitments can be undone by the same authority that made them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of abrogable
Abrogable comes from the Latin abrogare, meaning 'to repeal a law', a compound of ab- ('away from') and rogare ('to ask, propose' — originally referring to proposing legislation before the Roman people). English adopted the related verb abrogate in the early modern period, and the adjective abrogable followed as a natural derivative describing what could be subjected to that act. It shares its root with a family of learned Latinate verbs including arrogate, derogate, interrogate, and surrogate, all built on rogare.
Related word forms
How abrogable is actually used
A rare, formal word confined almost entirely to legal and constitutional discourse. It typically appears in discussions of statutes, treaties, charters, and rights, where precision about whether a provision can be repealed matters. In everyday speech, writers usually express the idea with phrases like 'can be repealed' rather than using this term.
Easily confused with abrogable
Abrogate is the verb meaning to repeal or abolish something formally, while abrogable is the adjective describing something that can be so repealed.