appreciable

From French appréciable. By surface analysis, appreci(ate) +‎ -able.

• IPA^(key): /əˈpɹiːʃəbl/

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appreciable (comparative more appreciable, superlative most appreciable)

1. (usually) Both detectable and at least modestly substantial: large enough to be estimated and to be of practical relevance.

   Synonym: considerable

   For many people, the benefits of exercise in improving mood and preventing achiness are appreciable.

   • 1865, Charles Dickens, chapter 15, in Our Mutual Friend:

     A grain of musk will scent a drawer for many years, and still lose nothing appreciable of its original weight.

   • 1915, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 1, in Something New:

     For an appreciable time he did not think of rising from his seat.

   • 1962 October, M. J. Wilson, “Three years of dieselisation at Devons Road depot”, in Modern Railways, page 264:

     Anti-freeze has not been found necessary, even in the most severe conditions, since the water is drained out if a locomotive spends any appreciable time out of service and in normal working conditions the coolant is always warm.

   • 2002, John J. Mearsheimer, "Realism, the Real World, and the Academy," in Realism and Institutionalism in International Studies (M. Brecher and F. P. Harvey, eds.), →ISBN, p. 27:

     If NEAsia were a zone of peace, those American forces would be unnecessary and they could be sent home and demobilized, saving the U.S. taxpayer an appreciable sum of money.

2. (sometimes) Synonym of detectable.

   Synonym: perceptible

   A small hernia was just barely appreciable upon palpation.

• appreciation

• “appreciable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.