edible
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of edible
First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin edibilis, equivalent to ed(ere) “to eat” + -ibilis adjective suffix; see origin at eat ( def. ), -ible
Explanation
If it’s edible, you can eat it. Many things that you may not want to eat are, in fact, edible. Certain insects are edible, which just means that you can consume them without getting sick (if it doesn't gross you out too much). Edible comes from the Latin word edere, which means “to eat.” Anything that people can safely eat is described as edible. Long before there were complex labels on our packages of food, human predecessors were living in caves and sampling various plants and animals for their survival, all the while learning the hard way whether or not certain things were either edible or poisonous. You are most likely a descendant of the ones who found the edible stuff.
Vocabulary lists containing edible
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prices of cereals, edible oils and vegetables likely added to inflation pressures, while easing precious-metals prices and delays in passing through fuel-price changes to consumers provided some relief, the bank said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The majority of mushrooms are not edible to humans, so picking them can be potentially dangerous.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Community members described a wild edible mushroom called "Sedesdem" that could sometimes cause people to see miniature human figures.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
By 2008, soybean oil accounted for approximately 80% of the 18 billion pounds of edible oils Americans used annually.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
It was early spring, so the plants were just starting to sprout and grow buds, but nothing was edible yet.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
