colourable

== English == === Alternative forms === colorable (American spelling) === Etymology === From colour +‎ -able. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkʌləɹəb(ə)l/ === Adjective === colourable (not comparable) (obsolete) Colourful. Apparently true; specious; potentially justifiable. 1612, John Smith, Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia, Chapel Hill 1988 (Select Edition of his Writings), p.178: they told him their comming was for some extraordinary tooles and shift of apparell; by this colourable excuse, they obtained 6. or 7. more to their confederacie […]. (now rare, sometimes law) Deceptive; fake, misleading. (law) In appearance only; not in reality what it purports to be, hence counterfeit, feigned. That can be coloured. ==== Usage notes ==== The sense "that can be coloured" is more common in American than in British English. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition. Oxford Dictionaries