estimable

estimable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French estimable. Equivalent to esteem +‎ -able and estimate +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛstɪməbəl/

Adjective

estimable (comparative more estimable, superlative most estimable)

1. Worthy of esteem; admirable.
   • 1715–1720, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book VI”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], OCLC 670734254, footnote:

     [Homer] allows their characters such estimable qualities as could consist, and in truth generally do, with tender frailties.

   • 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, Little Women: Or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, OCLC 30743985:

     Mr. March told […] how devoted Brooke had been, and how he was altogether a most estimable and upright young man.

2. (archaic) Valuable.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii]:

     A pound of man's flesh taken from a man
     Is not so estimable, profitable neither,
     As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats.

3. Capable of being estimated; estimatable.
   • 1928, Louis Kahlenberg and Norbert Barwasser, "On the time of Absorption and Excretion of Boric Acid in Man," Journal of Biological Chemistry, volume 79, iss. 2, page 406:

     After this time boric acid is always present in estimable amounts.

Further reading

• estimable at OneLook Dictionary Search

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French

Etymology

From estimer +‎ -able.

Adjective

estimable (plural estimables)

1. estimable, creditable
2. esteemed

Further reading

• “estimable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Spanish

Adjective

estimable (plural estimables)

1. esteemed, admirable
2. estimable (capable of being estimated)

Related terms

• estimado

Further reading

• “estimable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014