mutable
- liable or subject to change or alteration.
- given to changing; constantly changing; fickle or inconstant: the mutable ways of fortune.
Origin of mutable
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for mutability
Contemporary Examples
The mutability of language is itself immutable, and English never stops growing and changing.
Wunnerfitz! Sollybuster! The Fun of the Dictionary of American Regional EnglishAmmon Shea
April 12, 2012
As the "Interpreter" of the title suggests, the mutability of language also plays a major role in Ulitskaya's message.
Historical Examples
The question of the mutability of species was thus prominently raised.
Evolution in Modern ThoughtErnst Haeckel
It is interesting as giving his views on the mutability of species.
More Letters of Charles DarwinCharles Darwin
For Paul, as for all of us, the mutability of human affairs still existed.
High NoonAnonymous
But, as people have observed before, there is a mutability in human affairs.
Mr. Midshipman EasyCaptain Frederick Marryat
Addy no longer railed at the impermanence and mutability of things.
The CreatorsMay Sinclair
mutable
- able to or tending to change
- astrology of or relating to four of the signs of the zodiac, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, which are associated with the quality of adaptabilityCompare cardinal (def. 9), fixed (def. 10)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for mutability
n.
late 14c., "tendency to change, inconstancy," from Middle French mutabilité, from Latin mutabilitas, from mutabilis (see mutable).
mutable
adj.
late 14c., "liable to change," from Latin mutabilis "changeable," from mutare "to change," from PIE root *mei- "to change, go, move" (cf. Sanskrit methati "changes, alternates, joins, meets;" Avestan mitho "perverted, false;" Hittite mutai- "be changed into;" Latin meare "to go, pass," migrare "to move from one place to another;" Old Church Slavonic mite "alternately;" Czech mijim "to go by, pass by," Polish mijać "avoid;" Gothic maidjan "to change"); with derivatives referring to the exchange of goods and services as regulated by custom or law (cf. Latin mutuus "done in exchange," munus "service performed for the community, duty, work").