mutable

[myoo-tuh-buh l] /ˈmyu tə bəl/

adjective

liable or subject to change or alteration.

given to changing; constantly changing; fickle or inconstant:

the mutable ways of fortune.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Latin mūtābilis, equivalent to mūtā(re) to change + -bilis -ble

Related forms

mutability, mutableness, noun

mutably, adverb

hypermutability, noun

hypermutable, adjective

hypermutableness, noun

hypermutably, adverb

nonmutability, noun

nonmutable, adjective

nonmutableness, noun

nonmutably, adverb

unmutable, adjective

Synonyms

1. changeable, variable. 2. unstable, vacillating, unsettled, wavering, unsteady.

Antonyms

2. stable.

Examples from the web for mutable

In fact, the fact that they are changeable and mutable is what brought me into this conundrum in the first place.
The reality, however, is that works of art are more mutable than is usually acknowledged.
The country is so vast and so mutable that any attempt to describe it seems facile.
He is interested in clothes as mutable materials that communicate ideas.
The band's membership was always, to put it mildly, somewhat mutable.
These factors-in good news for humans at the low end of the social ladder-may be mutable.
Thus, since our laws are infinitely mutable and can be changed at any time, by definition they are incapable of ownership.
Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right.
Now scientists report that the brain is even more mutable than suspected.
But the mutable tubercle bacillus proved an elusive target, becoming resistant to each successive drug tried.

British Dictionary definitions for mutable

mutable

/ˈmjuːtəbəl/

adjective

able to or tending to change

(astrology) of or relating to four of the signs of the zodiac, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, which are associated with the quality of adaptability Compare cardinal (sense 9), fixed (sense 10)

Derived Forms

mutability, (rare) mutableness, noun
mutably, adverb

Word Origin

C14: from Latin mūtābilis fickle, from mūtāre to change

Word Origin and History for mutable

adj.

late 14c., "liable to change," from Latin mutabilis "changeable," from mutare "to change," from PIE root *mei- "to change, go, move" (cf. Sanskrit methati "changes, alternates, joins, meets;" Avestan mitho "perverted, false;" Hittite mutai- "be changed into;" Latin meare "to go, pass," migrare "to move from one place to another;" Old Church Slavonic mite "alternately;" Czech mijim "to go by, pass by," Polish mijać "avoid;" Gothic maidjan "to change"); with derivatives referring to the exchange of goods and services as regulated by custom or law (cf. Latin mutuus "done in exchange," munus "service performed for the community, duty, work").