potable
English
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English potable (“drinkable, potable”),[1] from Middle French, Old French potable (modern French potable (“drinkable, potable”)), and from its etymon Late Latin pōtābilis (“drinkable, potable”), from Latin pōtāre (“to drink”) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon).[2] Pōtāre is the present active infinitive of pōtō (“to drink”), from Proto-Italic *pōtos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (“to drink”).
The English word is cognate with Catalan potable, Italian potabile, Spanish potable.[2]
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpəʊtəbəl/, (non-standard) /ˈpɒt-/
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpoʊtəbəl/, (non-standard) /ˈpɑt-/
- Homophone: pottable (non-standard)
- Hyphenation: pot‧a‧ble
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations
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Noun
potable (plural potables)
- Any drinkable liquid; a beverage.
- 1708, [John Philips], “(please specify the page)”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- When solar beams / Parch thirsty human veins, the damask'd meads, / Unforc'd display ten thousand painted flow'rs / Useful in potables.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- “pō̆tāble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “potable, adj. and n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2006; “potable, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
drinking water on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Asturian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /poˈtable/, [poˈt̪a.β̞le]
Catalan
Pronunciation
Further reading
- “potable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin pōtābilis, from Latin potō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔ.tabl/
audio (file)
Adjective
potable (plural potables)
Further reading
- “potable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French potable, from Latin pōtābilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɔˈtaːbəl/, /pɔːˈtaːbəl/
Descendants
- English: potable
References
- “pō̆tāble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-08-22.
Old French
Declension
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /poˈtable/ [poˈt̪a.β̞le]
- Rhymes: -able
- Syllabification: po‧ta‧ble
Derived terms
Further reading
- “potable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014