pervious

American  

[pur-vee-uhs] / ˈpɜr vi əs /

adjective

1. admitting of passage or entrance; permeable.

   pervious soil.

2. open or accessible to reason, feeling, argument, etc..

   Unfortunately, she was pervious to whatever rationale had been most recently presented.

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pervious British  

/ ˈpɜːvɪəs /

adjective

1. able to be penetrated; permeable

2. receptive to new ideas; open-minded

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Other Word Forms

• perviousness
  noun
• semiperviousness
  noun
• unperviousness
  noun
• semipervious
  adjective
• unpervious
  adjective
• perviously
  adverb
• unperviously
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of pervious

First recorded in 1625–30; from Latin pervius “passable,” equivalent to per- “through” + vi(a) “way, road” + -us adjective suffix; see origin at per-, -ous

Compare meaning

How does pervious compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• pervious vs. impervious

Example Sentences

This hot, mineral-rich, and often smokey water seeks the most pervious path through the Earth's crust and encounters cold, oxygen-rich water at the sea floor.

From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2024

The company also expects an insurance margin in fiscal 2024 of 13.5%–15.5%, higher than the pervious year's margin of 12.6%.

From Reuters • Aug. 20, 2023

Reminisce about the Bluebonnet Bowl, the postseason game once played in the old Houston Astrodome that was the setting for the only pervious matchup of the Boilermakers and Volunteers in 1979.

From Fox News • Dec. 14, 2021

The rewritten constitution focuses more on the NCAA’s broader goals of athlete welfare than the pervious version, which took a more granular approach.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 8, 2021

In Hirudo the funnel is not pervious and is composed of a large number of cells.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various