Neglectable

[Slava]

I just came across this sentence on CNN: "...for neglectable firing of a firearm and injuring someone...". My question is, is this a mistake, or is there such a thing? I would think 'negligent', neglectable not being a word, for one, and for two, if it were it would mean able to be neglected. Any thoughts?

Whole article is here, in case you wish to read it.

[bnjtokyo]

Slava, I went to the article and I think it is not exactly a typo but some sort of brain fog that allowed the author to use the word. I entered "neglectable" into the "Search All Online English Dictionaries at Once!" box on the top page of the alphadictionary.com website and received links to four dictionaries. The Merriam-Webster's link said "neglectable" is a synonym for "negligent" and that it is archaic. So to learn more about its history, I tried the ngram viewer and found it has been in use since the late 19th century. Here's an example from 1890

... to but one per cent . of the ash pit openings , and are therefore neglectable in the presence of other sources of error . surface and the atmosphere as 200 ° , the possible. STEAM - JACKETS ON THE PAWTUCKET PUMPING ENGINE . 359.

Note that the meaning of "neglectable" here is not a synonym for "negligent."

The ngram viewer page is here
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?c ... moothing=3

[Slava]

Yes, I did see that it can mean negligible, as in minor. It's just so odd to see it as if it were a real criminal offense.

[bbeeton]

My first thought on looking at "negligible" was to wonder how it relates to "negligent". Clearly, someone who is negligent tends to neglect things.

But then I saw the reference to the "PAWTUCKET PUMPING ENGINE". Now, Pawtucket, whose city line is just over a mile north of our house in Providence, is the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the U.S., and the area was a stronghold of skilled mechanical invention and industry through the 19th and early 20th century, and is still the world headquarters of Textron. The Corliss steam engine was developed here, and an example of that amazing and beautiful machine was the centerpiece if the bicentennial industrial exposition at the Smithsonian. But I'd never heard of the Pawtucket pumping engine, and shall now have to go and research it.