What does emendable mean?
Emendable means capable of being corrected, repaired, or improved, most often in reference to a word, phrase, reading, or text. Its characteristic use is scholarly and editorial: a textual critic may call a passage emendable when an apparent error or doubtful construction can be repaired through emendation. The word emphasizes the possibility of correction rather than the quality of the result and is usually applied to something already under scrutiny. Although the idea can be used more broadly, the form is less familiar and more technical than the simpler amendable, which is also broader in meaning. Emendable is useful when precision matters because it identifies an imperfection as something that can responsibly be changed without claiming that any particular correction is automatically right. In everyday discussion, correctable, revisable, or improvable will often sound more natural.
adjectiveCapable of being corrected or improved, especially by correcting an error or a questionable reading in a text.
- Capable of being corrected or improved, especially by correcting an error, defective reading, or questionable passage in a text.
"The editor identified several emendable errors in the manuscript and corrected them from the original sources."
"The editor sent back a list of passages that remained emendable after the first round of revision."
"In the scholar's judgment, the disputed sentence was emendable by comparing several manuscript witnesses."
Emendable captures the editor's hope that a flawed text may still yield to careful, evidence-based correction.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does emendable come from?
Emendable was formed in English from emend, a verb meaning to correct or improve a text, together with the adjective-forming suffix -able. Emend comes from Latin emendare, “to correct, improve,” conventionally associated with ex-, meaning “out,” and Latin mendum, meaning “fault” or “defect.” The related English words emend and amend entered through different routes but preserve the same Latin origin.
Related word forms
How emendable is actually used
A formal and relatively uncommon adjective, especially associated with textual criticism, bibliography, and scholarly editing. It is normally used predicatively or attributively in editorial contexts.
Easily confused with emendable
Emendable usually means capable of being corrected, especially a text or reading, whereas amendable more broadly means capable of being altered or improved.