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definitions

renewable

[ri-noo, -nyoo]
|

adjective

able to be renewed: a library book that is not renewable.

noun

something that is renewable.

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Origin of renewable

First recorded in 1720–30; renew + -able
Related formsre·new·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·re·new·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·new·a·ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for non-renewable

Contemporary Examples of non-renewable

Word Origin and History for non-renewable
adj.

also nonrenewable, 1946, from non- + renewable.

renewable

adj.

1727, from renew + -able. In reference to energy sources, attested by 1971.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Science definitions for non-renewable

renewable

[rĭ-nōō′ə-bəl]

Relating to a natural resource, such as solar energy, water, or wood, that is never used up or that can be replaced by new growth. Resources that are dependent on regrowth can sometimes be depleted beyond the point of renewability, as when the deforestation of land leads to desertification or when a commercially valuable species is harvested to extinction. Pollution can also make a renewable resource such as water unusable in a particular location. Compare nonrenewable.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.