solvable

/ˈsɑlvəbəl/adjective

solvable is spelled S-O-L-V-A-B-L-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, solvable means “Capable of being solved” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in solvable?

Letters	8: S-O-L-V-A-B-L-E
Syllables	3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is solvable?

Solvable appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form in the list.

solvable0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce solvable?

UK /ˈsɒlvəbəl/
US /ˈsɑlvəbəl/

Solvable has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-solvable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What does solvable mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

1
Capable of being solved.
a solvable problem
2
Having terminating derived series; see Solvable group on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
3
Having a Galois group which is solvable.
4
Having terminating derived series (this is a distinct notion from the derived series of a group); see Solvable Lie algebra on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
5
Such that the set of inputs for which the answer is yes is recursively enumerable.
6
obsoleteCapable of being dissolved or liquefied.
7
obsoleteAble to pay one's debts.
8
obsoleterareCapable of being paid and discharged.
solvable obligations

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Solvable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
French	résoluble (capable of being solved), soluble (''(obsolete in English)'' capable of being…)
German	lösbar (capable of being solved), löslich (''(obsolete in English)'' capable of being…)
Portuguese	solúvel (capable of being solved)
Spanish	soluble, solucionable (capable of being solved)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does solvable come from?

From solve + -able. Piecewise doublet of soluble. More information The mathematical senses derive from Galois theory: Galois discovered that one could determine whether a given polynomial could be solved by radicals by studying the properties of a particular group attached to a particular field extension deriving from the polynomial in question; if the group satisfies some conditions then polynomial can be solved by radicals. Any group meeting these conditions – whether or not it arises from this process – is thus called solvable, as is any field extension giving rise to such a group.