edible
English
Etymology
From Late Latin edibilis, from Latin edō (“eat”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɛdɪbəl/, [ˈɛdɪbɫ̩]
Audio (UK) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛdəbəl/, [ˈɛdəbɫ̩]
- Rhymes: -ɛdɪbəl, -ɛdəbəl
Adjective
edible (comparative more edible, superlative most edible)
- Capable of being eaten without harm; suitable for consumption; innocuous to humans.
- edible fruit
- Capable of being eaten without disgust.
- Although stale, the bread was edible.
- 1957, Jane Van Zandt Brower, Experimental Stdies of Mimicry in Some North American Butterflies, in 1996, Lynne D. Houck, Lee C. Drickamer (editors), Foundations of Animal Behavior: Classic Papers with Commentaries, page 81,
- However, rather than try to place the Viceroy in a rigid, all-or-none category which implies more than the data show, the Viceroy is here considered more edible than its model, the Monarch, but initially less edible (except to C-2) than the non-mimetic butterflies used in these experiments.
- 2006, Ernest Small, Culinary Herbs, page 17:
- Recently germinated seeds are often even more nutritious from the point of view of humans because the stored chemicals are often transformed into more edible and palatable substances.
- 2009, Ephraim Philip Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen, Figs, page 4,
- This gets to the heart of the matter because, in the parthenogenic state, the fruits are more edible (though there are also apparently advantages to pollinated figs, which may be bigger and stronger) and the trees more productive from the human's point of view.
- In which edible plants are grown for human consumption.
- 2020, Valentina Peveri, The Edible Gardens of Ethiopia (page 7)
- Gardens do not contain flowers and ornamental plants, but edible plants. Although edible, these gardens are equally valued for their aesthetic qualities. It is women who collect from edible gardens, […]
- 2021, Rose Ray, Caro Langton, Into Green: Everyday Ways to Find and Lose Yourself in Nature (page 62)
- To get started, how about creating an edible window box? Sowed in the spring, salad seeds like radish, lettuce and spring onion will germinate so quickly that you'll be harvesting a crop in a month or two.
- 2020, Valentina Peveri, The Edible Gardens of Ethiopia (page 7)
Usage notes
edible is the most common term for “capable of being eaten”; eatable is rather informal, while comestible is relatively formal.
Synonyms
- comestible
- eatable
- eatworthy
Antonyms
- inedible
Coordinate terms
- drinkable, potable
- delectable
Derived terms
- edible amaranth
- edible bird's nest
- edible crab
- edible dormouse
- edible frog
- non-edible
Translations
that can be eaten without harm; suitable for consumption
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that can be eaten without disgust
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Noun
edible (plural edibles)
- Anything edible.
- In particular, an edible mushroom.
- Synonym: esculent
- In particular, an edible mushroom.
- (marijuana) a foodstuff, usually a baked good, infused with tetrahydrocannabinol from cannabutter etc.
Synonyms
- food
Translations
anything edible
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References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “edible”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
- belied, debile