answerable comes from answer + -able. Answer derives from Old English andswaru ('a reply'), from and- ('against') + -swaru ('affirmation', related to swear). Morphologically, the word is transparent: -able and -swaru is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the adjective sense is "responsible or accountable for something to someone", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as answer and derivatives such as answerability, answerably, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old English andswaru, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.