soluble

UK/ˈsɒljʊbəl/US/ˈsɑljəbəl/

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,354 of 15,258mostly written

Soluble means able to be dissolved in a liquid. Water-soluble, soluble in alcohol, a soluble tablet.

Which liquid matters: like dissolves like, so salt and sugar go into water and grease does not. Fat-soluble vitamins build up in the body where water-soluble ones are passed out, which is why overdosing is possible with one group and hard with the other. Note solve, from the Latin for loosening.

Definitions of soluble

1adjectivesolubleAble to be dissolved in a liquid.B2+
“Sugar is soluble in water, but sand isn't.”

soluble is a quality of dissolving.

Where it comes from

Latin solubilis comes from solvere, to loosen or dissolve. Solve, solution and absolve come from the same loosening.

Proto-Indo-European
*lewh₁-
Latin
solūbilis
Old French
soluble
Middle English
soluble
English, today
soluble

From Middle English soluble, from Old French soluble, from Latin solūbilis, from Latin solvō (“to loosen”) bilis. solvable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Chemistry & Elements

Practise this word

soluble in the wild

A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0.
Alkali
Water-soluble hormones (such as peptides and amines) generally act on the surface of target cells via second messengers.
Hormone
Despite being lipid soluble, they nevertheless attach to their receptor at the cell surface.
Hormone
The term "soluble" is sometimes used for materials that can form colloidal suspensions of very fine solid particles in a liquid.
Solubility
Dietary fiber has two main subtypes: soluble and insoluble.
Dietary fiber

1 / 2

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.

← Vocabulary