Delimitable

Delimitable is an adjective that describes something capable of being delimited—the act of setting or determining its boundaries. In practice, something is delimitable if its extents or borders can be clearly defined and separated from adjacent objects, data, or regions.

In data processing and file formats, delimited data is structured by delimiters such as commas, tabs, or pipes that separate fields. A file that is delimited is easy to parse into discrete fields, provided the delimiter does not appear unescaped within field values. When a data element itself contains a delimiter, escaping or quoting is used to preserve delimitation.

In text processing and programming, tokens are delineated by delimiters. Whitespace, punctuation, or syntax operators mark boundaries between identifiers, keywords, and symbols, making those tokens delimitable.

In geography and law, border delimitation refers to the formal process of defining the limits of territories or jurisdictions, often involving treaties, mapping, and surveying; once agreed, the territory is described as delimited.

Delimitable is related to the noun delimitation and the concept of delimiters. It is used to describe conditions, formats, or structures where clear boundaries can be established or boundaries can be reliably identified, though the term is more common in informal or technical contexts than as a formal standard term.