Nonrenewable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing resources that lack the ability to be naturally replenished once utilized
2. Referring to energy sources that are limited in supply and cannot be restored naturally Relating to materials or resources that, once consumed, do not return over time Characterizing fuels or resources that are exhaustible and will eventually run out
3. Describes materials or resources that cannot be regenerated after use

Etymology: "Nonrenewable" is a plain compound: the prefix "non-", meaning "not", joined to "renewable," which is itself built from "renew" plus the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." Put together, the word describes something that cannot be made new or replenished, such as a fossil fuel that, once burned, will not regenerate on any human timescale. The base word traces back through "renew," formed in English from "re-" ("again") and "new," with the "-able" ending arriving through Old French and Latin, where the Latin "-ābilis" carried the same sense of capability. Because "non-" is a productive English prefix, it can attach to almost any adjective, which is why the word was assembled as needed rather than inherited from an older source.

Synonyms: finite, exhaustible, limited, depletable, unsustainable

Antonyms: renewable, sustainable, replenishable, inexhaustible, everlasting