Washable can be thought of as an answer to one question: what happens when the water arrives? The ending -able says the thing can take it. But taking it looks different depending on what you are holding. A shirt takes it by still being a shirt afterwards. A marker line takes it by being gone afterwards. One word, one moment, two directions.
washable 可以想成在回答一個問題：水來的時候，會怎麼樣？字尾 -able 說的是「承受得住」。可是承受的樣子，要看你手上拿的是什麼。襯衫的承受，是洗完還是那件襯衫。麥克筆痕跡的承受，是洗完就不見了。同一個字，同一個瞬間，兩個相反的方向。
From the word’s history
Wiktionary builds the word as wash + -able, with -able coming through Old French from Latin -ābilis. The core image is just those two pieces read literally: able to take a wash.
Wiktionary 把這個字拆成 wash + -able，而 -able 是經過古法文、從拉丁文 -ābilis 來的。核心畫面其實就是把這兩塊照字面讀：洗得起。
Wiktionary entry 'washable' (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:834531581): etymology tree ending 'From wash + -able.'
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