plausible

Etymology

From Latin plausibilis (“deserving applause, praiseworthy, acceptable, pleasing”), from the participle stem of plaudere (“it is possible”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈplɔːz.ɪ.bəl/, /ˈplɔːz.ə.bəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

plausible (comparative more plausible, superlative most plausible)

1. Seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible

   a plausible excuse

   • 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformative Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 64:

     In short, the twin assumptions that syntactic rules are category-based, and that there are a highly restricted finite set of categories in any natural language (perhaps no more than a dozen major categories), together with the assumption that the child either knows (innately) or learns (by experience) that all rules are structure-dependent ( =category-based), provide a highly plausible model of language acquisition, in which languages become learnable in a relatively short, finite period of time (a few years).

2. Obtaining approbation; specifically pleasing; apparently right; specious.

   a plausible pretext; plausible manners; a plausible delusion

3. (obsolete) Worthy of being applauded; praiseworthy; commendable; ready.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hacket to this entry?)

Adjective

plausible (masculine and feminine plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Adjective

plausible (plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Further reading

• “plausible” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

plausible m, f (plural plausibles)

1. plausible

Adjective

plausible (plural plausibles)

1. plausible