Wiktionary

mutable

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English mutable, from Old French mutable, from Latin mutabilis (“liable to change”); mutate +‎ -able.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

mutable (comparative more mutable, superlative most mutable)

  1. Changeable, dynamic, evolutive; inclined to change, evolve, mutate.
    • 1531, Thomas Elyot, “Of Constance or Stabilitie”, in The boke named the gouernour‎[1], book III, page e4v:
      Vndoughtedly constaunce is an honourable vertue, as inconstance is reprochefull and odious. Wherfore that man whiche is mutable for euerye occasyon, muste nedes often repente hym, and in moche repentance is nat only moche foly, but also great detriment: whiche euery wyse man wyll eschue if he can.
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      For the mutable ranke-ſented Meynie, / Let them regard me, as I doe not flatter, / And therein behold themſelues.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 83, lines 415–420:
      Maſters commands come with a power reſiſtleſs / To ſuch as owe them abſolute ſubjection; / And for a life who will not change his purpoſe? / (So mutable are all the ways of men) / Yet this be ſure, in nothing to comply / Scandalous or forbidden in our Law.
    • 1864, Rob S. Candlish, “The Fatherhood of God”, in The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, volume XIV, London: James Nisbet & Co., published 1865, page 748:
      It is in vain to interpose the explanation that the sonship was mutable. The Broad School do not say so ; and in so far they are consistent, for they recognise no power to produce the mutation.
  2. (programming, of a variable) Having a value that is changeable during program execution.
    • 2011, David Flanagan, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide:
      A value of a mutable type can change. Objects and arrays are mutable: a JavaScript program can change the values of object properties and array elements. Numbers, booleans, null, and undefined are immutable.
  3. (astrology) Being one of the signs Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, associated with adaptability, flexibility and sympathy.
    Synonym: bicorporeal

Antonyms edit

Translations edit

See also edit

Noun edit

mutable (plural mutables)

  1. Something mutable; a variable or value that can change.
    • 1990, Kenneth D. Bailey, Social Entropy Theory, page 281:
      Hypothesis 6.14: Entropy levels within the social group may vary but must be maintained below maximum entropy on certain relevant variables (e.g., on the six globals and five mutables).

Anagrams edit

French edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /my.tabl/
  • Audio(file)

Adjective edit

mutable (plural mutables)

  1. mutable, changeable
  2. (programming) mutable

Further reading edit

Middle English edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Old French mutable, from Latin mutabilis.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /miu̯ˈtaːbəl/, /miu̯ˈtaːblə/

Adjective edit

mutable (Late Middle English)

  1. mutable, changeable, variable
  2. wavering, fickle

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

  • English: mutable

References edit

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /muˈtable/ [muˈt̪a.β̞le]
  • Rhymes: -able
  • Syllabification: mu‧ta‧ble

Adjective edit

mutable m or f (masculine and feminine plural mutables)

  1. Rare form of mudable.

Further reading edit

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