preventable, a.
(prɪˈvɛntəb(ə)l)
[f. prevent v. + -able; cf. acceptable, attributable, creditable. See also preventible.]
That may be prevented, capable of prevention.
| 1640 Bp. Reynolds Passions xl, The Ignorance of the End is far more preventable..than of the Meanes. 1828 in Webster. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) II. 315 Lord Shaftesbury told you just now that there were 100,000 preventable deaths in England every year. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. 34 All preventable diseases. 1879 Lubbock Addr. Pol. & Educ. viii. 147 This immense loss..due to preventable causes. |
Hence preventaˈbility.
| 1860 in Worcester citing Ec. Rev. 1883 Nature 19 Apr. 574/2 Knowledge of the Causation or Preventability of some important Disease. 1894 W. Walker Hist. Congregat. Ch. U.S. 357 His theories regarding the nature and preventability of sin. |