inhabitable

¹ American  

[in-hab-i-tuh-buhl] / ɪnˈhæb ɪ tə bəl /

adjective

1. able or fit to be lived in.

   Through years of neglect and eventual disrepair, the larger portion of the city has utterly collapsed and is no longer inhabitable.

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inhabitable ² American  

[in-hab-i-tuh-buhl] / ɪnˈhæb ɪ tə bəl /

adjective

1. unfit to live in; uninhabitable.

   People need to evacuate immediately, as rapidly dropping temperatures will make the whole area inhabitable by sundown.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noninhabitable
  adjective
• inhabitability
  noun
• noninhabitability
  noun
• uninhabitable
  adjective
• uninhabitability
  noun

Etymology

Origin of inhabitable¹

First recorded in 1400–50; inhabit ( def. ) + -able ( def. )

Origin of inhabitable²

First recorded in 1580–90; from French, from Latin inhabitābilis, from in- in- ³ ( def. ) + habitābilis habitable ( def. )

Explanation

Something inhabitable can be safely and comfortably lived in. After a major fire or a flood, it can take some time to make a house inhabitable again. The earth is inhabitable, but Mars is not. Your house is inhabitable, but your mom's pickup truck isn't really inhabitable. If you can inhabit, or live in a place, it's inhabitable, from the Latin inhabitare, "dwell in." An earlier definition of inhabitable meant completely the opposite: "not able to be lived in," from the roots in-, "not," and habitable, "fit to live in."