Edible
/ˈɛdəbl/
adjectiveB1
Definition
Edible describes any item, usually food, that is safe to eat and not harmful to the body. It means the thing can be eaten and digested without causing sickness. Sometimes, it is used to say something looks like food but may or may not be safe to eat.
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⚡ See It in Action
Safe to eat, not harmful
- •These mushrooms are edible, so you can cook and eat them.
- •The fruit is ripe and edible now.
- •Some plants look nice but are not edible.
Sometimes used to describe something that looks like food but might not be (less common)
- •The cake decoration was made of edible flowers.
🧲 Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "edible" like "eat" (A1 word), but it tells you if something is safe to eat or not.
- ✓Picture a fruit that looks nice and fresh — you can eat it because it is edible.
- ✓It's the feeling of relief when you find out the berries you picked are edible, not poisonous.
- ✓Sounds like "EAT-able" → something that you CAN eat safely.
- ✓Imagine a survival story where someone finds edible plants to stay alive.
- ✓NOT like "poisonous" (dangerous to eat), edible means safe and good.
- ✓NOT like "inedible" (cannot be eaten), edible means the opposite — okay to eat.
- ✓NOT like "delicious" (tastes very good), edible just means safe to eat, not necessarily tasty.
🔄 Try Other Words
- •Safe to eat: meaning it will not harm you (Use when explaining to beginners or in simple conversation)
- •Fit for consumption: formal way to say edible (Use in official or scientific contexts)
- •Palatable: means tastes good, not just safe (Use when focusing on taste, not safety)
- •Digestible: means easy to digest, different from safe (Use when talking about how food affects the stomach)
🔍 Unboxing
- •Word parts: root "ed-" from Latin "edere" meaning "to eat" + suffix "-ible" meaning "able to"
- •Etymology: From Latin "edibilis," meaning "able to be eaten"
- •Historical development: Used in English since the 15th century to describe food or things that can be eaten safely
- •Modern usage: Commonly used in food safety, cooking, and biology to describe safe food items
💭 Reflect & Connect
•How do you decide if something is edible when you try new food in another country?
•Can something be edible but still not tasty? How would you explain that difference?
Fill in the blanks with the correct word:
1.Before eating wild plants, you must be sure they are edible and not ___.
2.The chef used only edible ingredients to prepare the meal, avoiding anything ___.
3.Some mushrooms look good but are not edible, so it is important to ___ them carefully.
4.The cake was decorated with edible flowers, so you could ___ them safely.
5.People sometimes confuse edible with delicious, but edible means ___ to eat, not necessarily tasty.
6.When camping, finding edible plants can be ___ for survival.
7.The label said the berries were edible, so we knew they were safe to ___.