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What is the consensus on the correct form of calibrate + able suffix? Wiktionary lists only one proper entry for "calibratable". Automotive industries prefer to use "calibratible" because it matches the pronunciation (disclaimer: I work in one). Neither are accepted by spell-checkers.

Any thoughts or opinions?

gbudiman
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    Google Books claims 2,100 results for calibratable, against only 121 for calibratible. Go with the majority, and don't expect spell-checkers to include every possible "word". In my pronunciation, the last vowel is a neutral schwa anyway. Are you sure you're not being influenced by what your colleagues write, rather than what you hear/say? – FumbleFingers Oct 07 '15 at 17:32
  • To add to the confusion, I've also seen "calibrable", which apparently is mostly used in theoretical mathematics. – Doug Warren Oct 07 '15 at 18:39
  • @FumbleFingers That’s because one never adds -ible to first-conjugation verbs like calibrate. – tchrist Sep 19 '16 at 01:27

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The only ngram that yields any results from calibrable, calibratable, calibriable and calibrateable is calibratable. It also has a Wiktionary entry. However, the paraphrasation is a lot more common. So unless you absolutely need a single word, just write can be calibrated.

If you do need a single word, everything points to calibratable. The University of Michigan considers it a word.

Helmar
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