potable
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potable
- /ˈpəʊtəbəl/ UK
- /ˈpɒt-/ UK, nonstandard
- /ˈpoʊtəbəl/ US
- /ˈpɑt-/ US, nonstandard
- /poː.ʈə.bᵻl/ South Asia
Sounds like pottable (non-standard), portable (non-rhotic)
Where it comes from
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English potable (“drinkable, potable”), 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). 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.
The noun is derived from the adjective.
adjective more potable · most potable
-
Good for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.
potable water
Similar: drinkable, drinkworthy
noun potables
- Any drinkable liquid; a beverage. When solar beams / Parch thirsty human veins, the damask'd meads, / Unforc'd display ten thousand painted flow'rs / Useful in potables.
Translations
Talk about this word "potable." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/potable. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. potable. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/potable "potable." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/potable.Cite this
@misc{potable_2026,
title = {potable},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/potable},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
