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Someone has just pointed out a mis-spelling on my site - demonstratable, as in "demonstratable experience of...".

I can't see it in the New Oxford American Dictionary or the Oxford Dictionary of English. A quick Google shows it in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but it has a note attached:

This word doesn't usually appear in our free dictionary, but the definition from our premium Unabridged Dictionary is offered here

The closest matching word seems to be demonstrable (which means the same but sounds like it shouldn't!).

My question is, is demonstratable a recognised dictionary word or just one that is generally accepted? Where do these edge-cases fit in? For example, when writing copy for a website or other literature, is it acceptable to use words like this on the assumption that, even if they are not in the dictionary, people will recognise the meaning?

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2 Answers

Don't use demonstratable.

The Corpus of Contemporary American English has 262 hits for demonstrable, and none for demonstratable. Google ngram shows a similar result:

ngram

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Demonstratable is not an English word, so shouldn't be used. People will probably know what you intended, just as they would if you talked about demonstratating the system; but they will never be certain whether you are joking or ignorant.

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An English word is a word that can be used to communicate a concept to an English speaker. If you say this word, everyone will know what you mean, so in my book it qualifies. However, in my book you will also sound like a bit of a dumbass (as you clearly don't know the easier "demonstrable"), so use at your own risk. – T.E.D. Sep 12 '11 at 15:11
@T.E.D.: I take your point, though I'm not sure I agree with it. But your phrasing is far too wide: there is no word that everyone will understand, as the questions show every day. And if anything used to communicate a concept to an English speaker is an English word, we don't need dictionaries, teachers, or (far more important) EL&U. – TimLymington Sep 12 '11 at 20:44
Kind of confused by that comment. English dictionaries are descriptive of the language for those who might need to be informed about specific words they encounter. They generally aren't meant to be used as exclusive exhaustive lists of allowable lexemes for the language. – T.E.D. Sep 12 '11 at 22:31

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