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applicable

UK/əˈplɪk.ə.bəl/US/əˈplɪk.ə.bəl/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,097 of 15,258mostly written

Applicable means relevant to the case in hand. Where applicable, not applicable, the applicable law.

Not applicable, shortened to N/A, is how forms let you skip a question that does not fit. In contracts the applicable law clause names which country's law governs the agreement, and it is one of the most fought-over lines in any deal.

Definitions of applicable

  1. 1adjectiveapplicableRelevant to the case in hand.C1

    “Discounts are not applicable to items already on sale.”

applicable is a quality.

Where it comes from

Medieval Latin applicabilis comes from applicare, to attach or apply, from ad plus plicare, to fold.

  1. Medieval Latin

    applicabilis

  2. Old French

    applicable

  3. English, today

    applicable

From Old French applicable, from Medieval Latin applicabilis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

applicable in the wild

  • The court, presided over by one or more judges, makes findings of law based upon the applicable law.

    Trial court

  • The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels.

    Lead ship

  • N/A (or sometimes n/a or N.A.) is a common abbreviation in tables and lists for the phrases not applicable, not available, not assessed, or no answer.

    N/A

  • The survey director should request that the initials "n a" ("not applicable") be written down opposite such questions.

    N/A

  • Initially, the law was applicable only to banking companies.

    Banking Regulation Act, 1949

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.