Sustainable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /səˈsteɪnəbəl/

Definitions

1. Able to be maintained or continued over a long period without depleting resources or causing environmental damage
2. Capable of being sustained over time without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs or causing adverse environmental impacts
3. Pertaining to practices that allow for ecological balance by ensuring resources are used responsibly and can be replenished

Etymology: The word is a straightforward formation: "sustain" plus the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." "Sustain" came into English through Old French from Latin "sustinere," a compound of "sub-" (under) and "tenere" (to hold), so the original picture is of holding something up from underneath. "Sustainable" thus means, literally, capable of being held up or kept going. The suffix has its own long road. "-able" descends from Latin "-abilis," itself built on verbs ending in "-are," and it passed into Old French as "-able" before arriving in Middle English. Because of this, English can attach it to almost any verb, which is why the word could be formed so readily from "sustain." The modern sense, about practices that can be kept up without exhausting resources, grew out of that basic idea of something that can be maintained over time.

Synonyms: maintainable, viable

Antonyms: unsustainable