WordGarden.iorepresentable
B1Pronunciation
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Meanings
Adjective
able to be depicted, symbolized, or otherwise communicated
able to be expressed exactly in a formal notation, model, or computer format
Beyond the definition
Something is representable if it can be shown, described, or expressed in some form. That form might be a picture, a symbol, a model, a set of words, or a mathematical system. Not everything is easy to show in a clear way. An object like a tree is easy to represent, but an idea like love is much harder.
Think of it like this: if you can draw it, model it, or explain it clearly enough for someone else to understand, then it is representable. In math and computer science, the word often means that a number, value, or idea can be expressed correctly in a given system. For example, some numbers are representable in a certain format, while others are not.
The word representable describes something that can be shown, expressed, symbolized, or modeled in a particular form. It often suggests that there is some clear way for one thing to stand for another, whether through an image, a description, a symbol, a diagram, or a formal system.
Some things are easy to represent. A landscape can be painted, photographed, or described in words. Other things take more effort. Feelings like grief, joy, or fear can be represented, but usually not in a simple or complete way. They often need context, detail, and interpretation before another person can fully understand them.
The term is also common in technical fields. In art, it can describe whether a subject or idea can be shown in a visual form. In mathematics, a number is representable in a system such as binary if that system can express it. In computing, a value is representable if it can be stored or written in the format being used. This is why the word often appears in discussions about number formats, symbols, logic, and data.
Beyond technical uses, representable carries the simple idea that something can be made understandable through a form that others can recognize. If an idea, object, or experience can be turned into a picture, story, symbol, model, or system that communicates it, then it is representable.
Examples
- 1
Limits of language
Some experiences are so complex that they do not seem fully representable in words.
- 2
Computing
Not every decimal number is exactly representable in binary.
- Domainrepresentable in binary
able to be stored exactly in a computer system that uses binary
- 3
Mathematics
Near zero, the function is representable as a power series.
- Patternrepresentable as + form
able to be written in that form
See also
Similar
- expressible
- describable
- depictable
Shades of meaning
- codable
- modellable
Contrast
- unrepresentable
- inexpressible
Used with (collocations)
- representable as
- representable by
- machine-representable data
- representable form
Word family
Explore
- symbolization
- abstraction
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- representableadjective