mutabile

Mutabile is a Latin adjective meaning changeable or mutable. It derives from mutare, “to change,” and is the neuter form of mutabilis, used to describe things that are capable of changing or that vary over time. In Latin grammar, mutabile agrees with neuter nouns, and it can function as a descriptor in classical and medieval texts.

In philosophy and theology, mutabile is often invoked to discuss mutability as a property of the material world or of beings subject to change. It is contrasted with immutabilis, the term used for things regarded as unchanging or eternal. The concept of mutability has been central to debates about fate, contingency, and the nature of change in various philosophical systems.

In biological and historical scientific usage, mutabile occasionally appears as a Latin or Latinized epithet in taxonomic names to signal variability in a trait or environment. More commonly, related forms such as mutabilis or the English word mutable are used in modern taxonomic notation. When used in names, the epithet mutabile must agree in gender with the genus name according to Latin grammar rules.

In culture and language, mutabile has appeared in poetry, philosophy, and scholarly titles to evoke theme or motif of change and instability. The English cognate, mutable, derives from the same Latin root and is far more common in contemporary usage. In scholarly works that engage Latin terminology, mutabile may be used to discuss changeability in a Latinized frame.