mutability

From Middle English mutabilite, from Old French mutabilite, from Latin mutabilitas; equivalent to mutable +‎ -ity.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmjuːtəˈbɪlɪti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmjutəˈbɪlɪti/, [ˌmjuɾəˈbɪləɾi]

• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: mu‧ta‧bil‧i‧ty

mutability (countable and uncountable, plural mutabilities)

1. The quality or state of being mutable.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     He did indeed account somewhat unfairly for this sudden change; for besides some hard and unjust surmises concerning female fickleness and mutability, he began to suspect that he owed this want of civility to his want of horses […]

   • 1819 November 10, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Mutability of Literature”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number IV, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 23:

     There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of human nature.