ponderable

comparative more ponderable · superlative most ponderable

1. natural sciencesHaving a detectable amount of matter; having a measurable mass.

   [T]he imponderability of heat did not appear to the philosophers of the eighteenth century to be a sufficient reason for excluding it from the list of chemical elements; and... there was... doubt... whether caloric was ponderable or not.

   1910, E. T. Whittaker, A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, Dublin University Press, published 1910, page 35

   Synonyms: massive

2. Worthy of note; significant, interesting.

   Synonyms: eminent

3. rareHeavy; ponderous.

   The very mother's head you swore by in the dock is a heavier head, crowned with ponderable hair.

   1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, Faber & Faber, published 2007, page 77

   Synonyms: hefty, massive, weighty

plural ponderables

1. rareSomething that is ponderable