mutability
nounUK /ˌmjuːtəˈbɪlɪti/ · US /ˌmjutəˈbɪlɪti/
Etymology From Middle English mutabilite, from Old French mutabilite, from Latin mutabilitas; equivalent to mutable + -ity.
1
The quality or state of being mutable.
- 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 […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- 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.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:
- Derived terms
- hypermutability, paramutability