commensurable

adjective

com·​men·​su·​ra·​ble kə-ˈmen(t)s-rə-bəl 

-ˈmen(t)sh-;

-ˈmen(t)-sə-,

-shə-

1

: having a common measure

specifically : divisible without remainder by a common unit

2

: commensurate sense 1

commensurability

kə-ˌmen(t)s-rə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

-ˌmen(t)sh-;

-ˌmen(t)-sə-

-shə-

noun

commensurably

kə-ˈmen(t)s-rə-blē 

-ˈmen(t)sh-;

-ˈmen(t)-sə-

-shə-

adverb

Did you know?

Commensurable means "having a common measure" or "corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree." Its antonym incommensurable generally refers to things that are unlike and incompatible, sharing no common ground ("incommensurable theories"), or to things that are very disproportionate, often to the point of defying comparison ("incommensurable crimes"). Both words entered English in the 1500s and were originally used (as they still can be) for numbers that have or don't have a common divisor. They came to English by way of Middle French and Late Latin, ultimately deriving from the Latin noun mensura, meaning "measure." Mensura is also an ancestor of commensurate (meaning "coextensive" or "proportionate") and incommensurate ("disproportionate" or "insufficient"), which overlap in meaning with commensurable and incommensurable but are not exact synonyms.

Synonyms

• commensurate
• proportional
• proportionate

Examples of commensurable in a Sentence

though his new job pays less, the pay is at least commensurable with the amount of work and the level of stress he must contend with

Recent Examples on the Web

Such dual-economy arrangements later allowed the great imperial powers to make their commitment to free exchange, and to a degree of pluralism, commensurable with their ongoing subjugation of native peoples. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Once the germ reached the seething colonies of commensurable rodents, fattened on the empire’s giant stores of grain, the mortality was unstoppable. —Kyle Harper, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2017

That was out of the question—their behavior was not commensurable with our understanding of universal laws. —The New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at sense 1