Word of the Day
: December 3, 2015durable
playWhat 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 it should last for years.
"Fall is all about layers. Fleece, flannel and down feel cozy, while durable, antimicrobial merino wool is beloved for keeping you warm or cool as needed (and smelling fresh even after you exercise)." — Self, November 2015
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."
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Name That Synonym
Fill in the blanks to create a synonym of durable: s _ _ s _ a _ ti_ _.
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