penetrability
(ˌpɛnɪtrəˈbɪlɪtɪ)
[f. penetrable: see -ity. Prob. ad. mod.L. *penetrābilitās; cf. F. pénétrabilité (Huygens 1690, in Hatz.-Darm.).]
The quality of being penetrable.
† 1. Capacity of penetrating; penetrativeness.
| 1609 Bible (Douay) 1 Kings Comm., The foure dowries of glorified bodies .. Impassibilitie .. Agilitie and Penetrabilitie. 1659 H. More Immort. Soul i. ii. §11 The Immediate Properties of a Spirit or Immateriall Substance are Penetrability and Indiscerpibility. 1687 ― Answ. Psychop. (1689) 122 Now for the Penetrability of Spirits, it is evident..that they can wholly penetrate one another. |
2. Capability of being penetrated; spec. in Nat. Philos. The (conceived) capacity of simultaneously occupying the same space as something else (cf. penetration 1 b, impenetrability 2).
| a 1648 Digby Closet Open. (1677) 161 According to the thickness and firmness of the piece [of meat] and penetrability of it. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. iii. 33 Impenetrability being as much a property as penetrability. 1875 Lewes Probl. Life & Mind II. iv. §46. 282 All the facts which seem to prove penetrability only prove that the particles are mobile and separable, not that the particles themselves are penetrable. |