durable

English

Etymology

From Middle English durable, from Old French durable, from Latin dūrābilis (“lasting, permanent”), from dūrō (“harden, make hard”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʊɹəbəl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdjʊəɹəbəl/
• (colloquial British English) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒʊəɹəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

durable (comparative more durable, superlative most durable)

1. Able to resist wear or decay; lasting; enduring.

   durable economy

   durable batteries

   durable food

Antonyms

• weak
• vulnerable
• transitory

Derived terms

• durability
• durable good
• durable medical equipment
• durableness
• durably
• semidurable
• superdurable
• ultradurable
• undurable

Translations

able to resist wear; enduring

Arabic: متين (ar) Armenian: դիմացկուն (hy) (dimacʻkun), տոկուն (hy) (tokun) Asturian: duraderu, durable Azerbaijani: etibarlı, davamlı, möhkəm (az) (of materials) Bulgarian: траен (bg) (traen), устойчив (bg) (ustojčiv) Catalan: durable (ca), durador (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: (of goods) 耐用 (zh) (nàiyòng), 耐久 (zh) (nàijiǔ), (of clothing) 耐穿 (zh) (nàichuān) Danish: holdbar, slidstærk, varig Dutch: duurzaam (nl) Finnish: kestävä (fi), luja (fi) French: durable (fr) Galician: durable (gl), durábel (gl) Georgian: გამძლე (gamʒle) German: strapazierfähig (de), haltbar (de), dauerhaft (de) Greek: ανθεκτικός (el) (anthektikós), γερός (el) (gerós) Hungarian: tartós (hu) Irish: buanfasach Italian: durabile Japanese: 固い (ja) (katai), 強い (ja) (tsuyoi), 丈夫な (ja) (jōbu na) Latin: dūrābilis Lithuanian: patvarus m, tvarus m Macedonian: и́здржлив (ízdržliv) Maori: pūmau Norwegian: Bokmål: slitesterk Nynorsk: slitesterk Ottoman Turkish: پاینده (payende, payanda) Plautdietsch: duarhauft Portuguese: duradouro (pt), duradoiro, durável (pt) Romanian: trainic (ro), durabil (ro) Russian: про́чный (ru) (próčnyj), надёжный (ru) (nadjóžnyj), сто́йкий (ru) (stójkij), долгове́чный (ru) (dolgovéčnyj) Scottish Gaelic: maireannach, buan, seasmhach Spanish: duradero (es), durable (es), perdurable (es) Swedish: slitstark (sv), tålig (sv), hållbar (sv), varaktig (sv) Telugu: మన్నికైన (mannikaina)

Noun

durable (plural durables)

1. (economics) A durable thing, one useful over more than one period, especially a year.
   • 1989, Robert A. Pollak, The theory of the cost-of-living index, page 188:

     In a frictionless world with perfect rental markets, there is an unambiguous cost associated with the use of a durable for a single period.

Antonyms

• nondurable

Translations

durable thing

Chinese: Mandarin: 耐用品 (zh) (nàiyòngpǐn) Finnish: kestokulutustavara Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• delubra

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin dūrābilis.

Adjective

durable (epicene, plural durables)

1. durable (able to resist wear; enduring)

Bikol Central

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish durable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duˈɾable/ [d̪uˈɾab.l̪e]
• Hyphenation: du‧rab‧le

Adjective

duráble (intensified durablehon, Basahan spelling ᜇᜓᜍᜊ᜔ᜎᜒ)

1. durable

   Synonyms: matagal, kudat

Derived terms

• pagkadurable

Related terms

• durabilidad

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin dūrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [duˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [duˈɾa.ble]

Adjective

durable m or f (masculine and feminine plural durables)

1. durable

   Synonym: durador

Related terms

• durabilitat

Further reading

• “durable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “durable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “durable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “durable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dūrābilis. Morphologically, from durer +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dy.ʁabl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

durable (plural durables)

1. durable
2. sustainable

   développement durable ― sustainable development

Derived terms

• durabilité
• durablement

See also

• écologique, vert
• renouvelable

Further reading

• “durable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dūrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duˈɾable/ [d̪uˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: du‧ra‧ble

Adjective

durable m or f (masculine and feminine plural durables)

1. durable

   Synonyms: duradero, perdurable

Further reading

• “durable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10