abgrenzbar

Abgrenzbar is a German adjective formed from the verb abgrenzen (to delineate or set apart) with the suffix -bar (able). It describes something that can be clearly bounded, separated, or defined by criteria, borders, or distinctions. The term is used to indicate that a concept, category, phenomenon, or variable can be demarcated from others with sufficient precision to allow analysis or operation.

In scholarly and professional contexts, abgrenzbar signals that boundaries or criteria exist for drawing distinctions. It is commonly applied in the social sciences, law, geography, and philosophy to discuss whether a concept or phenomenon can be clearly separated from related elements. For example, a variable may be described as abgrenzbar if it can be measured by a clear criterion (such as age in years) and thus distinguished from other variables. A concept might be considered abgrenzbar when its boundaries do not significantly overlap with adjacent concepts within a given framework.

The notion is often relative and context-dependent: boundaries that render something abgrenzbar in one analysis may be less definite under a different theoretical approach or at another level of aggregation. Abgrenzbar is commonly contrasted with abgrenzung (the act of delimiting) and with terms such as ungrenzbar (indefinable or not delimited).