admissibility
UK[ədˌmɪsəˈbɪləti]US[ədˌmɪsəˈbɪləti]
n
The quality or state of being allowed or acceptable, especially as evidence in a court of law.
Morpheme Breakdown
admiss
ible
ity
admiss
allow entry
ible
capable of
ity
state or quality
Etymology
The word 'admissibility' is built upon the Latin verb 'admittere', meaning "to send to, allow to enter". Its past participle 'admissus' gave rise to the English stem 'admiss-', which combines with the adjective-forming suffix '-ible' to create 'admissible', meaning "capable of being admitted or allowed". The final abstraction into a noun of state is achieved by adding the suffix '-ity', common in forming abstract nouns from adjectives. Thus, the literal progression from "capable of being allowed entry" evolves into the modern legal concept denoting the quality of evidence being acceptable for consideration in court.
Analysis
Structure: admiss (allow entry) + ible (capable of) + ity (state or quality)
- admiss: From Latin 'admissus', the past participle of 'admittere' (to allow to enter, admit). In this word, it functions as the core root meaning "allowed to enter".
- ible: A suffix of Latin origin ('-ibilis'), meaning "capable of, worthy of, or tending to". It forms adjectives.
- ity: A noun-forming suffix of Latin origin ('-itas'), denoting a state, condition, or quality.
Examples
The judge will rule on the admissibility of the new witness testimony.
The legal team challenged the document's admissibility on procedural grounds.
The basic principle of admissibility requires that evidence must be relevant to the case.