appreciable

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 5, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>appreciable</strong> &#149; \uh-PREE-shuh-bul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>:</strong> capable of being perceived or measured</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"In fact, frozen water molecules detected at both poles have no <em>appreciable</em> order to their arrangement…." — <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-juno-takes-first-images-of-jovian-moon-ganymedes-north-pole">NASA.gov, 22 July 2020</a></p> <p>"Nelson heard The Faerie Queen as a very long bedtime story, lasting an <em>appreciable</em> portion of his young life, and Shakespeare all the way through kindergarten and first grade." — <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=7Z2GKbNFSmkC&amp;pg=PT23#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">James Hynes, <em>The Lecturer’s Tale</em>, 2001</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Appreciable</em>, like the verb <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appreciate">appreciate</a></em>, comes from the Late Latin verb <em>appretiare</em> ("to appraise" or "to put a price on"). It is one of several English adjectives that can be applied to something that can be detected, felt, or measured. Specifically, <em>appreciable</em> applies to what is highly noticeable or definitely measurable, whereas <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perceptible">perceptible</a></em>, which is often paired with <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barely">barely</a></em> or <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarcely">scarcely</a></em>, applies to what can be discerned to a minimal extent. <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensible">Sensible</a></em> refers to something that is clearly perceived; a sensible difference in someone's expression is easily detected.