What does investigable mean?
Investigable is an adjective meaning that something can be investigated or is open to formal inquiry. It is commonly used in legal, administrative, and technical contexts when describing an incident, allegation, cause, question, or failure that can be examined through evidence. An issue may be investigable even when its answer is not yet known; the word describes the availability of a reasonable inquiry, not the outcome. It also does not mean that the matter is suspicious or likely to reveal wrongdoing. Although less common than investigative, investigable has a distinctive grammatical role: investigative describes the act or work of inquiry, whereas investigable describes the object of that inquiry. The word is useful in precise legal and analytical writing because it separates whether an issue can be investigated from what investigators ultimately conclude.
adjectiveAble to be investigated; open to inquiry, examination, or scrutiny.
- Capable of being investigated; subject to inquiry, examination, or scrutiny.
"The cause of the fire remains investigable, although investigators have yet to identify a single point of origin."
"The unexplained contamination remains investigable once the remaining samples can be independently tested."
"A complaint is investigable when the alleged misconduct can be examined through evidence and witness testimony."
The key to investigable is its ending: it asks whether something can be investigated, not whether someone is investigating it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does investigable come from?
Investigable was formed in English from investigate with the suffix -able, meaning “able to be,” a suffix historically related to Latin -abilis. Its deeper root is Latin investigare, “to investigate, search into, or trace,” formed from in- (“into”) and vestigare (“to track, trace”). The same Latin root connects with related English forms such as investigation and investigator, and with vestigial, which derives from Latin vestigium, meaning “footprint” or “trace.”
Related word forms
How investigable is actually used
Relatively uncommon and chiefly formal, with uses in legal, administrative, and technical contexts. It does not imply that a matter is suspicious, only that it can be subjected to inquiry.
Easily confused with investigable
Investigable describes something that can be investigated, whereas investigative describes the act, work, or questions associated with an investigation.