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I tried hard to find if we have the noun utilisability in dictionaries but it does not exist. But, when goolging, I found some articles that contain this word.

I know that we have the verb to use and the corresponding noun is usability. I am just wondering if utilisability exists.

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  • You could start by providing some links where you've found the word, instead of making us all scrounge the internet for a word that might not even be a word. Also, what do you mean by "articles"? Pieces written by bloggers? Or material vetted through editors?
    – J.R.
    Sep 28, 2012 at 9:04
  • FWIW (from OED): Quick search results: No dictionary entries found for ‘utilisability’. Check your search and try again. Widen search? Find ‘utilisability’ in: » phrases (0)» definitions (0)» etymologies (0)» quotations (0)» full text (0)
    – J.R.
    Sep 28, 2012 at 9:06
  • Here is an example picked from an official book: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X96001090
    – kaissun
    Sep 28, 2012 at 9:55
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    @J.R. ~ "The utilisability method is used to perform the calculation.", and Extending Routers Utilisability and Life Cycle through Automated Configuration Management, both vetted by editors. Against that, COCA with 450 million words found nothing. My guess is that it is a technical word.
    – Roaring Fish
    Sep 28, 2012 at 9:58
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    kaissun: (1) Sometimes the dictionaries have to catch up with language; that's especially true with technical jargon. (As an example, email wasn't a word in the 1800s.) (2) Your example is interesting - thanks for posting it. (3) As for my dictionary comment, that was mostly for others who have access to the OED, to save them some time from checking (the OED lists several hard-to-find words that might not be listed in less comprehensive dictionaries; that's the first place many of us will go for is-this-a-word questions). @RoaringFish: Curiouser and curiouser; thanks for sharing those.
    – J.R.
    Sep 28, 2012 at 10:32

3 Answers 3

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utilizable
capable of being put to a profitable or practical use

It turns out that the term utilisability/ utilizability has been adopted by literature in solar energy for a specific technical meaning. Most probably, owing to a first reference 'Utilisibility Method' by its proponent sometime earlier. Moreover, the original coinage could have been by a non-native speaker (or even a native speaker) who wanted, naturally, a new term to distinguish from the generic 'usability'.

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    or a native speaker who wanted, for some reason, to distinguish the word from "usability".
    – Peter Shor
    Oct 1, 2012 at 12:16
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As noted in another answer, utilisability may be some kind of jargon or marketing term. (Although I doubt it.) In common usage, deriving utilisability from utilisable would an example of overgeneralization. A noun with the intended meaning already exists: utility.

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Utilisability can be found in design and ergonomics fields as an assessment of the user's ability to access and browse the provided content of an interface (device/website/software/video game...).

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    Welcome to ELU. This is interesting information; can you offer any supporting references or published examples to back up your assertions?
    – JHCL
    Oct 11, 2015 at 22:19

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