'moveability' originates from Modern English formation combining the verb 'move' and the nominalizing suffix '-ability' (from Old French '-abilite' and Latin '-abilitas'), where 'move' ultimately comes from Latin 'movere' meaning 'to move' and '-ability' denotes 'capability.'

'move' changed from Latin 'movere' to Old French forms (e.g. 'movoir'/'movre'), then to Middle English forms such as 'moven' or 'move', and eventually became the modern English 'move'. The suffix '-ability' developed from Latin '-abilitas' through Old French '-abilite' and was adopted into Modern English to form abstract nouns such as 'moveability'.

Initially, the root meant 'to cause to change position' ('to move'), but over time the derived noun formed with '-ability' came to mean the abstract property or capacity 'to be moved'—the current sense of 'moveability'.