The flashcard describes 'durable' as an adjective meaning able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration or designed to be durable. The word originates from the Latin verb 'durare', meaning 'to last'.
The flashcard describes 'durable' as an adjective meaning able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration or designed to be durable. The word originates from the Latin verb 'durare', meaning 'to last'.
| Word | durable |
|---|---|
| Date | February 15, 2021 |
| Type | adjective |
| Syllables | DUR-uh-bul |
| Etymology | Something durable lasts a long time, so it's no surprise that the word comes to us, via Anglo-French, from the Latin verb durare, meaning "to last." Other descendants of durare in English include during, endure, and durance (which now mostly turns up in the phrase "in durance vile," a fancy way of saying "in prison"). Durable even has a near synonym in the much rarer perdurable, which combines durare with the prefix per- (meaning "throughout") to create a word that can mean "lasting a very long time or indefinitely" or "eternal." |
| Examples | The couch is covered in an eye-catching yet durable fabric that will last for years. "And yet books about United States presidents—biographies, autobiographies, tell-alls … —have been among the most durable literary genres since the presidency of George Washington." — Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune, 12 Nov. 2020 |
| Definition | : able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration; also : designed to be durable |
Tags: wordoftheday::adjective
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