comestible — an adjective meaning that something is edible or eatable
comestible — the Spanish cognate of the same definition
If you pluralize the word to “comestibles” it then becomes a noun and refers to food, which is, by its very nature, an edible product.
Interestingly, this particular word has the same spellings and meanings as an adjective or as a noun in both English and Spanish. That’s pretty rare because there’s usually some variation in either the spelling or within the usages of most cognate pairs. Naturally, there is a difference in the pronunciation of the word between English and Spanish, but it’s not a significant difference.
“Comestible” is an easy word to remember once you know Spanish because the extremely common and important verb for “to eat” is “comer.” That verb goes back to Latin.
“Comer” is taught very early on in any Spanish curriculum and used over and over to the extent that it becomes easy to recall simply from its usage. Knowing “comer” makes it easy to remember “comida” for “food” in Spanish, too; however, anyone who knows the English word of “comestible” prior to taking a Spanish lesson will have an advantage to those who do not know that word. If you don’t know the word “comestible” prior to studying Spanish, then your Spanish lessons will aid you in learning and remember that word.
Where you tend to encounter the word “comestibles” in a Spanish textbook is in a vocabulary list of places you’d find in a city. Most textbooks I’ve seen have used the expression “tienda de comestibles” for “grocery store.” (There are other, native-speaker preferred words, but textbooks tend to use this three-word expression.) “Tienda” means “store,” and then “comestibles” is used for “groceries” as they are consumable items.
Since my students were well-versed in the verb of “comer” by the time they learned the expression of “tienda de comestibles,” inevitably some would argue that you don’t eat everything you buy in a grocery store — things like paper towels or even things you drink — so I would have them focus on the fact that the things we buy at a grocery store are all things we consume in some way. We use them up. Just as we use up anything we might eat. Thus the connection.
So, something “comestible” is able to be eaten. It is something edible or eatable. “Comestibles” are food or our groceries.
Prior to writing this, I bought some comestibles at the grocery store, and I happen to have a puppy who thinks everything in and around the house is comestible, so I spend a lot of time taking pillow stuffing, shoes, pieces of wood, clods of dirt, and the occasional rock out of her mouth.
Until next time.
Tammy Marshall
Comestible