'valuatable' originates from Modern English, formed from the base word 'value' with the adjectival suffix '-able' (meaning 'able to be'). 'Value' itself comes ultimately from Latin via Old French.

'valuatable' developed by combining English 'value' (from Old French 'valoir'/'value' < Latin 'valere' meaning 'to be strong / to be worth') with the productive suffix '-able'. The Latin root 'valere' passed into Old French and Middle English as forms leading to modern 'value', and the adjective formation produced 'valuable' and later adjectival coinages such as 'valuatable'.

Initially the root meaning ('to be worth') emphasized worth or strength; over time derivatives have come to denote either intrinsic worth ('valuable') or the capacity to be assessed ('valuatable'), with the latter focusing on the ability to assign a value.