palpable

English

WOTD – 4 May 2008

Etymology

From Middle French palpable and its source, Latin palpābilis, which is from palpō (“to touch softly”) +‎ -bilis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpalpəbəl/
• (US) enPR: păl'pə-bəl, IPA^(key): /ˈpælpəbəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

palpable (comparative more palpable, superlative most palpable)

1. Capable of being touched, felt or handled; touchable, tangible.

   Synonyms: tangible, touchable; see also Thesaurus:tactile

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     Osric: A hit, a very palpable hit.

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 227:

     The imagination shuns to reveal its workings, unless it can clothe them in some lovely and palpable shape, and create into existence the high romance, the mournful song, the animated canvass, or the carved marble;...

   • 1838, Edgar Allan Poe, Ligeia:

     I had felt that some palpable although invisible object had passed lightly by my person.

   • 1894, Bret Harte, “The Heir of the McHulishes”, in A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories:

     The next morning the fog had given way to a palpable, horizontally driving rain.

   • 1906, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], quoting William Dean Howells, “William Dean Howells”, in What Is Man? And Other Essays, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published May 1917, page 234:

     [T]he gondolas stole in and out of the opaque distance more noiselessly and dreamily than ever; and a silence, almost palpable, lay upon the mutest city in the world.

2. (figurative) Obvious or easily perceived; noticeable.

   Synonyms: manifest, noticeable, patent

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, […] . It was with a palpable relief that he heard the first warning notes of the figure.

   • 1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 24, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:

     Her voice, her palpable agitation, prepared us for something extraordinary.

   • 1916, Kathleen Norris, chapter 7, in The Heart of Rachael:

     No use in raging, in reasoning, in arguing. No use in setting forth the facts, the palpable right and wrong.

   • 2019 May 2, Ana Vanessa Herrero, Rick Gladstone, “Maduro Speaks to Troops, Trying to Discredit Guaidó’s Call for Mutiny”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     By Thursday, there was a palpable sense of frustration with the opposition’s strategy on the streets of Caracas, people in the capital said.

   • 2021 June 28, Lisa O'Carroll, Amelia Gentleman, quoting Elena Remigi, “‘The anxiety is palpable’: EU citizens face looming settled status deadline”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Elena Remigi, of the In Limbo Project, which is documenting the experiences of EU citizens in the UK, said: “The anxiety among EU citizens is palpable. My inbox is full of messages of people asking for reassurance or guidance. […] ”

3. (medicine) That can be detected by palpation.

Antonyms

• impalpable

Derived terms

• palpableness
• palpably

Translations

capable of being touched

• Bulgarian: осезаем (bg) (osezaem), обозрим (obozrim)
• Catalan: palpable
• Dutch: tastbaar (nl)
• Finnish: käsinkosketeltava, kouriintuntuva (fi)
• French: palpable (fr)
• German: greifbar (de)
• Greek: απτός (el) (aptós), αισθητός (el) (aisthitós), ψηλαφητός (el) (psilafitós)
• Hungarian: tapintható (hu)
• Italian: palpabile (it)
• Latin: tactilis, (Late) palpābilis
• Macedonian: о́пиплив (ópipliv)
• Plautdietsch: feelboa
• Portuguese: palpável (pt)
• Russian: осяза́емый (ru) (osjazájemyj), ощути́мый (ru) (oščutímyj)
• Spanish: palpable (es)

obvious

• Bulgarian: очевиден (bg) (očeviden), ясен (bg) (jasen), явен (bg) (javen)
• Catalan: palpable
• Czech: zřejmý (cs)
• Dutch: te snijden
• Finnish: selvä (fi), kouriintuntuva (fi), käsinkosketeltava
• French: palpable (fr)
• Greek: προφανής (el) (profanís)
• Hungarian: érzékelhető (hu)
• Italian: evidente (it)
• Macedonian: очи́гледен (očígleden), ја́сен (jásen), оче́виден (očéviden)
• Polish: namacalny (pl)
• Portuguese: palpável (pt)
• Russian: очеви́дный (ru) (očevídnyj), я́вный (ru) (jávnyj), я́сный (ru) (jásnyj)
• Spanish: palpable (es)

that can be detected by palpation

• Dutch: palpeerbaar
• Finnish: tunnustelemalla havaittava, tunnusteltava
• Greek: ψηλαφητός (el) (psilafitós)
• Portuguese: palpável (pt)
• Russian: прощу́пываемый (ru) (proščúpyvajemyj)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin palpābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pəlˈpab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [palˈpa.ble]

Adjective

palpable m or f (masculine and feminine plural palpables)

1. palpable

Derived terms

• palpablement

Further reading

• “palpable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “palpable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “palpable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “palpable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin palpābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pal.pabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

palpable (plural palpables)

1. palpable

   Antonym: impalpable

Derived terms

• palpablement

Further reading

• “palpable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Adjective

palpable m or f (plural palpables)

1. touchable; palpable

References

• Etymology and history of “palpable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin palpābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /palˈpable/ [palˈpa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: pal‧pa‧ble

Adjective

palpable m or f (masculine and feminine plural palpables)

1. palpable

Derived terms

• palpablemente

 

Further reading

• “palpable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014