portable

American  

[pawr-tuh-buhl, pohr-] / ˈpɔr tə bəl, ˈpoʊr- /

adjective

1. capable of being transported or conveyed.

   a portable stage.

2. easily carried or conveyed by hand.

   I found a lightweight, portable propane stove for our trekking holiday.

3. Computers. (of data sets, software, etc.) capable of being used on different computer systems.

4. Obsolete. endurable.

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noun

• portables
  plural

1. something that is easily carried by hand, especially as distinguished from a counterpart that is harder or less convenient to move.

   Of their three television sets, one is a portable.

portable British  

/ ˈpɔːtəbəl /

adjective

1. able to be carried or moved easily, esp by hand

2. (of software, files, etc) able to be transferred from one type of computer system to another

3. archaic able to be endured; bearable

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noun

1. an article designed to be readily carried by hand, such as a television, typewriter, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• portability
  noun
• nonportable
  adjective
• unportable
  adjective
• portably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• portables
  plural

Etymology

Origin of portable

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin portābilis; see port ⁵, -able

Explanation

If something's portable, you can easily take it with you . You may carry your portable computer with you from class to class because it's small, light, and fits easily in your backpack. First appearing around 1400, portable stems from the Latin word portare, meaning "to carry." Used as an adjective, portable describes something you can carry around easily. Used as a noun, it means a smaller, easy-to-carry version of something, like a computer or television. On a trip, you might take your portable so you can watch movies in the car. Before computers became popular, you might have carried around a lightweight typewriter called a portable.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

portable portables

When he offered to bring a portable brewery and brew on festival grounds, the city refused, saying too many other producers would want to do the same.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

SAVANNAH, Ga.—Bill Howard’s family has earned a living from the piney woods of southeast Georgia since 1898, when his great-grandfather and seven great-great uncles started cutting lumber with a portable sawmill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Harp has been dubbed the "human printer" -- thanks to her role carrying a portable machine to print out documents that Trump asks for.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Fortunately, a second portable toilet area deeper inside the venue had working sinks and held up well throughout the show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

My mom was already giving me troubled looks when I needed to put my portable oxygen on just to pack.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Built into a refurbished shipping container, it’s filled with everything from tiny Walkman-style portables to colorful, number-flip clock radios and, naturally, boomboxes of all sizes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Attached to the memo were a list of properties available for lease and a list of city-owned properties where portables could be hosted, “if portables are identified as the solution.”

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2022

Just beware of the comparably low 30-watt limit on this charger, which isn’t sufficient to provide enough juice for more powerful portables like the MacBook Pro.

From The Verge ● Oct. 27, 2021

The only question portables raise for me are logistical.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2020

But then they both turn the corner of one of the portables and join me under the magnolia tree like regular.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Related Words

• compact
• convenient
• handy
• lightweight