Answerable means capable of being settled by a definite reply. An answerable question, not answerable as posed, an answerable claim.
The other and commoner sense is being accountable, so a minister is answerable to parliament, and only the preposition tells you which is meant. A question that is not answerable is usually badly framed rather than deep.
1adjectiveanswerableCapable of being settled by a definite reply, as a well-posed question is.
“How long the film lasts is answerable; whether it is good is a matter of taste.”
answerable is a quality.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂ent-
Middle English
answere
English
answer
English, today
answerable
From answer + -able. answer comes from Middle English answere. From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- + swaru, (from Proto-Indo-European h₂ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European swer-), suggesting an original meaning of "a sworn statement rebutting a charge". The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic andaswarō (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andswōr (“answer”), Danish - and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA