sustainable
/səˈsteɪnəbəl/suh-STAY-nuh-buhl
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/səˈsteɪnəbəl/suh-STAY-nuh-buhl
Meaningthat one can sustain
Common meaning: able to be kept up
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- susunder, up from belowSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 533 · scan
- tainto hold, keep hold ofLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1853 · scan
- ableable to be
‘under, up from below’ + ‘to hold, keep hold of’ → sustainable
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from sustain + -able.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SUSTAIN, p.614 · scan
Roots
- sustinere Latin “to uphold”
- teneō, tenuī, tentum Latin “to hold, keep hold of”
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