edible definition

English

Etymology

From Late Latin edibilis, from Latin edō (“eat”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɛdɪbəl/, [ˈɛdɪbɫ̩]

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛdəbəl/, [ˈɛdəbɫ̩]
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈedɪbəl/, [ˈedɪbɫ̩]
• Rhymes: -ɛdɪbəl, -ɛdəbəl

Adjective

edible (comparative more edible, superlative most edible)

1. Capable of being eaten without harm; suitable for consumption; innocuous to humans.

   edible fruit

2. Capable of being eaten without disgust.

   Although stale, the bread was edible.

   • 1957, Jane Van Zandt Brower, “Experimental Stdies of Mimicry in Some North American Butterflies”, in Lynne D. Houck, Lee C. Drickamer, editors, Foundations of Animal Behavior: Classic Papers with Commentaries, published 1996, page 81:

     However, rather than try to place the Viceroy in a rigid, all-or-none category which implies more than the data show, the Viceroy is here considered more edible than its model, the Monarch, but initially less edible (except to C-2) than the non-mimetic butterflies used in these experiments.

   • 2006, Ernest Small, Culinary Herbs‎^[1], page 17:

     Recently germinated seeds are often even more nutritious from the point of view of humans because the stored chemicals are often transformed into more edible and palatable substances.

   • 2009, Ephraim Philip Lansky, Helena Maaria Paavilainen, Figs, page 4:

     This gets to the heart of the matter because, in the parthenogenic state, the fruits are more edible (though there are also apparently advantages to pollinated figs, which may be bigger and stronger) and the trees more productive from the human's point of view.

3. In which edible plants are grown for human consumption.
   • 2020, Valentina Peveri, The Edible Gardens of Ethiopia, page 7:

     Gardens do not contain flowers and ornamental plants, but edible plants. Although edible, these gardens are equally valued for their aesthetic qualities. It is women who collect from edible gardens, […]

   • 2021, Rose Ray, Caro Langton, Into Green: Everyday Ways to Find and Lose Yourself in Nature, page 62:

     To get started, how about creating an edible window box? Sowed in the spring, salad seeds like radish, lettuce and spring onion will germinate so quickly that you'll be harvesting a crop in a month or two.

Usage notes

edible is the most common term for “capable of being eaten”; eatable is rather informal, while comestible is relatively formal.

Synonyms

• comestible
• eatable
• eatworthy

Antonyms

• inedible

Coordinate terms

• drinkable, potable
• delectable

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

edible (plural edibles)

1. Anything edible.
   1. In particular, an edible mushroom.

      Synonym: esculent

2. A foodstuff, usually a baked good, infused with tetrahydrocannabinol from cannabutter or other marijuana.

Synonyms

• food

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “edible”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• belied, debile