Inherited from Proto-Italic *-ðlis, from Proto-Indo-European i-stem form *-dʰlis of *-dʰlom (“instrumental suffix”). Akin to -bulum.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [bɪ.lɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [bi.lis] (stressed on the antepenult)

-bilis (neuter -bile, comparative -bilior, superlative -bilissimus); third-declension two-termination suffix

1. -(a)ble; used to form an adjective, usually from a verb, indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon.

The suffix -bilis is added to a verb to form an adjectival noun of relationship to that verb.

Examples:

stabilis (“stable”), from stō (“to stand”)

amābilis (“lovely, worthy of love”), from amō (“to love”)

Sometimes it is added to the verb's perfect past participle stem (this should not be confused with derivatives of first-declension frequentative verbs, which have stems ending in -tā-).

Examples:

‎contemnō (“to scorn, despise”) + ‎-bilis → ‎contemptibilis (“contemptible”)

‎flectō (“to bend, curve”) + ‎-bilis → ‎flexibilis (“flexible, pliant, tractable”)

‎videō (“to see”) + ‎-bilis → ‎vīsibilis (“visible”)

In a few cases, it becomes -ilis by haplology after a stem that ends in the consonant -b- (if these are not examples of the etymologically distinct suffix -ilis):

habilis (“handy, skillful”), from habeō (“to have”) (with haplology, for *habibilis)

nūbilis (“marriageable”), from nūbō (“to marry”) (with haplology, for *nūbibilis)

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

• -ābilis
• -ibilis

• -ilis