changeable, a.
(ˈtʃeɪndʒəb(ə)l)
Forms: 4 chaungeabil, etc.
[a. F. changeable, f. change-r to change; see -able.]
1. That may change; liable or subject to change; mutable, variable, inconstant.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxviii[ix]. 8 All ere chawngeabil & passand. 1340 ― Pr. Consc. 1413 Þe life of þis world es..ful variand and chaungeable. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 384 Fortune is chaungeable. 1587 Golding De Mornay iv. 44 It is certeine that he is vnchangeable, and that if he were not so the whole chaungeable nature should perish. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 431 A moonish youth [would] greeue, be effeminate, changeable, longing, and liking. a 1762 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxix. 114, I have been very near leaving this changeable world. 1797 Encycl. Brit. s.v. Astron. II. 429/2 The most remarkable of these changeable stars. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 Sept. 5/5 The weather was very changeable. |
2. Liable to be changed (by others); alterable.
| 1461 Paston Lett. No. 404 II. 30 This chaungebyll rewle. 1604 H. Jacob Reasons 70 It is not Changeable by man, and therefore it only is lawfull. 1830 D'Israeli Chas. I, III. xi. 247 Their places of meeting were changeable, and only known to their own party. 1836 J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ix. (1852) 275 A merely arbitrary determination..changeable at pleasure. |
3. a. Showing different colours under different aspects; ‘shot’, changing-coloured.
| 1480 Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 116 Grene chaungeable velvet. 1550 Inv. Ch. Goods in Norfolk Archæol. (1865) VII. 34 A cope of blew changeable sylke. 1580 Baret Alv. C 323 Pigeons haue feathers of changeable colours. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 12 Changeable coloured vrchins. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 76. 1624 Inv. in Archæol. XLVIII. 136 Changable taffaty curtains. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 425 ¶3 A Robe of changeable Silk. c 1815 Moore Irish Melod. Poet. Wks. II. 137 Love's wing and the peacock's are..both of them bright, but they're changeable too. 1861 C. M. Yonge Young Step-Mother xv. 197 Grand⁓mamma..stroked down the flounces of her changeable silk. 1968 H. McCloy Mr. Splitfoot (1969) xii. 126 A ball dress of changeable silk, pale blue and rose. |
† b. Variegated, parti-coloured. Obs.
| 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 960 Each one strives who shall lay the first hand upon that changeable cote [Joseph's]. |
† 4. Varying, various. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdr. vi. 44 Floures of chaungeable coloure and smell. 1572 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Sheep (1627) 203 The shepheard must often driue them ouer changeable pastures and grounds whereas there is scant of feeding. |
5. as n. † a. A changeable fabric (see 3 a, b). Obs. b. A changeable thing or person. rare.
| 1496 Will of Byllisdon (Somerset Ho.) Tartron or Sarsenet of Chaungeable. 1627 Feltham Resolves i. ix, First went Lying..clad all in Changeable. a 1711 Ken Hymnar. Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 35 No Change..the Unchangeable affects, To his fix'd Glory God all Changeables directs. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) V. 298 The changelings, or changeables, if thou like that word better. |