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edible

[ed-uh-buhl]
adjective
  1. fit to be eaten as food; eatable; esculent.
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noun
  1. Usually edibles. edible substances; food.
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Origin of edible

1605–15; < Late Latin edibilis, equivalent to ed(ere) to eat + -ibilis -ible
Related formsed·i·bil·i·ty, ed·i·ble·ness, nounnon·ed·i·bil·i·ty, nounnon·ed·i·ble, adjective, nounnon·ed·i·ble·ness, nounun·ed·i·ble, adjective
Can be confusedaddable edible

Synonyms

1. comestible, consumable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for unedible

Historical Examples

  • Cut cold meat of any variety in thin slices; trim off all unedible portions and dispose neatly in the center of an ample dish.

    The Boston Cooking-School Magazine (Vol. XV, No. 2, Aug.-Sept., 1910)

    Various

  • When I got to sea I found that his tubers were rank and unedible, and full of fine yellow streaks of repulsive appearance.

British Dictionary definitions for unedible

edible

adjective
  1. fit to be eaten; eatable
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Derived Formsedibility or edibleness, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Late Latin edibilis, from Latin edere to eat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unedible

edible

adj.

1590s, from Late Latin edibilis "eatable," from Latin edere "to eat," from PIE root *ed- "to eat" (cf. Sanskrit admi "I eat;" Greek edo "I eat;" Lithuanian edu "I eat;" Hittite edmi "I eat," adanna "food;" Old Irish ithim "I eat;" Gothic itan, Old Swedish and Old English etan, Old High German essan "to eat;" Avestan ad- "to eat;" Armenian utem "I eat;" Old Church Slavonic jasti "to eat," Russian jest "to eat").

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper