Can anyone please help me to understand the difference between the 2 words?
I for one understand that the words have a similar meaning but when is it correct to use them? I use "extendable" for when it's about physical objects such as couch, a spyglass or the pipe that I have at my vacuum cleaner, things like that, that can be folded and unfolded.
What about "extensible" though? I rarely use the latter in conversation and writing and I want to clarify for some friends because to my understanding, does it refer to add parts to an object, in a way, expanding it? Is it a good synonym with expansion?
Thank you and I apologize if this was discussed before but I would like some good examples to know in what cases these words should be used.
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ible, an intrinsic part of; able, that can be extended.– LambieCommented May 5, 2021 at 16:52
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See also "Extensible" vs. "extendible".– imz -- Ivan ZakharyaschevCommented Oct 24, 2021 at 12:08
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3 Answers
I think of extensible as "able to be added to with minimal disruption or reorganization".
You're not the only one who rarely uses the word. I don't think it's very common outside of some technical contexts.
One place I've seen it used is software design. An extensible architecture is one where a program is designed such that new functionality can be added without too much restructuringof the existing code. So someone might say:
Using more specialized classes will make this software more extensible.
(This is discussed further in the Wikipedia article on Extensibility.)
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It can also be used for things that can be "made longer". For example, Hummingbirds have a long, slender bill with a long extensible tongue adapted for nectar feeding..– ColleenVCommented Jun 6, 2017 at 11:28
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Isn't similar to my examples? For example, I have a couch and I can "make it longer" and turn it into a bed and I would call this an extendable couch. If you go to a furniture store for example, what term do you mostly encounter? I am not a native English speaker but I think that "extendable" is more commonly used, even though I only heard it in TV shows/movies and for that reason I am used to using it. Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 11:48
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1@Alice I wonder if the difference is that extensible in the sense of "protruding" is biological/medical, and extendable (in tge sense of make longer, not add to) is for objects like those in your examples. I will see if I can verify that guess when I have more time.– ColleenVCommented Jun 6, 2017 at 13:46
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1I think there is probably a lot overlap between the two words, so it will be difficult to support a case if you want to say, "These usages are okay, but these are not." One word may sound more normal than another, but correctness is rarely so cut-and-dried in English.– J.R. ♦Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 14:56
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2My sense of it is that "extendable" refers to something that can be expanded in a specific, pre-designed way. "Extensible" refers to a generic capability of lending itself to be easily expanded in previously undefined ways. Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:41
An analogy I use to illustrate the difference is this:
The collapsible, Slinky-like, pull-to-make-longer hose on your fuel can / jerry can is inherently extensible. It can be made longer with no add-on modifications.
The hose on your Shop-Vac or vacuum cleaner can be made functionally longer by snapping on additional lengths of hose. It is extendable.
I like the answer in https://english.stackexchange.com/a/90444/422405
I use extendable in cases where it means the opposite of retractable. In other words, a telescoping wand is extendable, the legs of my camera tripod are extendable.
I use extensible when I mean that the functionality of something may be increased or enhanced by the addition of an extension- an add-on module or component. My web browser is extensible because I can add an Adobe Flash extension which allows me to view flash content. I think it would sound a bit odd to talk about my web-browser being extendable.
