pregnable
[ preg-nuh-buh l ]
/ ˈprɛg nə bəl /
adjective
capable of being taken or won by force: a pregnable fortress.
open to attack; assailable: a pregnable argument.
RELATED WORDS
accessible, assailable, defenseless, exposed, liable, naked, ready, sensitive, sucker, susceptible, tender, thin-skinned, unguarded, unprotected, unsafe, vincible, weak
Nearby words
- preggo,
- preggy,
- pregl,
- pregl, fritz,
- preglacial,
- pregnancy,
- pregnancy gingivitis,
- pregnane,
- pregnanediol,
- pregnanedione
Origin of pregnable
1400–50; late Middle English prenable < Middle French prenable, pregnable, equivalent to pren- (weak stem of prendre to seize, take < Latin pre(he)ndere; see prehension) + -able -able; -g- perhaps from obsolete expugnable (in same sense)
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for pregnable
pregnable
/ (ˈprɛɡnəbəl) /
adjective
capable of being assailed or captured
Word Origin for pregnable
C15 prenable, from Old French prendre to take, from Latin prehendere to lay hold of, catch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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pregnable
1530s, alteration of Middle English preignable, earlier prenable (early 15c.), from Old French prenable "assailable, vulnerable," from stem of prendre "to take, grasp, seize," from Latin prehendere "to take hold of, to seize" (see prehensile).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper