evitable

adjective

ev·i·ta·ble | \ ˈe-və-tə-bəl

Definition of evitable

: capable of being avoided

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British author T. S. Eliot once gave a lecture at Trinity College (Cambridge, England) in which he spoke about "the disintegration of the intellect" in 19th century Europe, saying, "The 'disintegration' of which I speak may be evitable or inevitable, good or bad; to draw its optimistic or pessimistic conclusions is an occupation for prophets . . . of whom I am not one." Evitable, though not common, has been in English since the beginning of the 16th century; it's often found paired with its opposite, inevitable, as in Eliot's passage as well as in this self-reflection by Liverpool Echo writer Gary Bainbridge in March of 2014: "I have been thinking about my inevitable death, and decided I would like to make it a bit more evitable." Both words were borrowed from similar Latin adjectives, which in turn are based on the verb evitare, which means "to avoid."

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evitable

Definition of evitable

Did You Know?

First Known Use of evitable

History and Etymology for evitable

evitable

Definition of evitable

Did You Know?

First Known Use of evitable

History and Etymology for evitable

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