Word of the Day

: May 29, 2008

durable

adjective DUR-uh-bul

What It Means

: able to exist for a long time without significant deterioration; also : designed to be durable

durable in Context

The couch is covered in a pretty yet durable fabric, and I hope it will last for years.

Did You Know?

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."