What does cherishable mean?
"Cherishable" is an adjective meaning worthy of being cherished — deserving to be held dear, protected, or remembered with affection. It derives from the verb "cherish," which entered English in the Middle Ages from Old French "cherir," itself rooted in the Latin "carus," meaning dear. The word is used to describe anything — a memory, an object, a relationship, a moment — whose emotional value makes it worth treasuring: "the cherishable hours of childhood." Though grammatically straightforward, it remains comparatively rare in modern English, functioning mostly as a literary or expressive alternative to more common words like "precious" or "treasured." Its connotations are uniformly warm and sentimental, with no negative senses. Writers reach for it when they want to emphasize not merely that something is valued, but that it actively merits the tender, protective regard implied by cherishing.
adjectiveWorthy of being cherished; deserving to be held dear or treated with affection and care.
- Worthy of being cherished or held dear; deserving affectionate care and remembrance.
"The old photographs were among her most cherishable possessions."
"Their final summer together produced a wealth of cherishable moments."
"The museum's curators treated the fragile letters as cherishable artifacts of a vanished era."
Built from the same Latin root 'carus' (dear) that gives us charity and caress, 'cherishable' is the adjective form of a verb whose very name means 'to hold dear.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cherishable
Cherishable is formed from the verb "cherish" plus the adjectival suffix "-able." "Cherish" came into English from the Old French "cherir" (to hold dear), derived from "cher" (dear), which descends from the Late Latin "caritare," a frequentative of "carus," meaning dear or beloved. That same Latin root underlies related English words such as "caress" and "charity," making them distant cousins of cherishable.
How cherishable is actually used
A relatively rare and somewhat literary word, far less common than its base verb 'cherish.' It carries warm, sentimental connotations and appears most often in reflective or emotional writing rather than everyday speech.
Easily confused with cherishable
Perishable describes things likely to decay or spoil, while cherishable describes things worth treasuring — nearly opposite fates for an object.