'vivifiable' originates from Latin, specifically the verb 'vivificare', where 'vivus' meant 'alive' and 'facere' meant 'to make.'

'vivificare' passed into Late Latin and Old French as forms meaning 'to make live' and then into English as 'vivify'; the adjective 'vivifiable' is formed in English by adding the suffix '-able' to that base.

Initially, the ancestor words meant 'to make alive'; over time the sense broadened to 'to enliven or restore vitality,' and 'vivifiable' now means 'able to be enlivened or restored.'