potable

[ poh-tuh-buhl ]

/ ˈpoʊ tə bəl /

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See synonyms for potable on Thesaurus.com

adjective

fit or suitable for drinking: potable water.

noun

Usually potables. drinkable liquids; beverages.

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Origin of potable

1565–75; <Late Latin pōtābilis drinkable, equivalent to Latin pōtā(re) to drink + -bilis-ble

OTHER WORDS FROM potable

po·ta·bil·i·ty, po·ta·ble·ness, nounnon·po·ta·ble, adjective, nounun·po·ta·ble, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH potable

portable, potable

Words nearby potable

postviral syndrome, postvocalic, postwar, posy, pot, potable, potae, potage, potager, potamic, potamogale

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use potable in a sentence

Access to water in the eastern Coachella Valley cannot be separated out from development and cannot be separated out from issues of growth and the right to clean and potable water.
Postcard From Thermal: Surviving the Climate Gap in Eastern Coachella Valley|by Elizabeth Weil and Mauricio Rodríguez Pons|August 17, 2021|ProPublica
Desalination is the process of removing mineral components from saltwater to produce potable water for drinking and farming needs.
40 million Americans depend on two reservoirs that just hit record lows|Monroe Hammond|July 28, 2021|Popular-Science
Maybe you need to figure out the water levels of a river at certain times of year, or determine if there’s potable water along your route, or learn about what the weather is typically like.
How to Nail Your Next Adventure|kklein|July 12, 2021|Outside Online
With the exception of the Scorpion Canyon Campground on Santa Cruz and the Water Canyon Campground on Santa Rosa, there’s also no potable water.
The Ultimate Channel Islands National Park Travel Guide|Shawnté Salabert|June 23, 2021|Outside Online

The lawsuit contended that contaminants from Plant Scherer caused a “loss of potable water supply and increased risk of diseases.”
The Coal Plant Next Door|by Max Blau for Georgia Health News|March 22, 2021|ProPublica
Her goal is to reduce that number by making sure potable water is available and accessible to all.
At Women in the World, the Reality of Uganda’s Brutal Gay Ban|Andrew Romano|March 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But how many days can 300,000 people go without potable water before you can call it a full-blown crisis?
In West Virginia Water, an Environmental Nightmare Borders on Crisis|Michael Tomasky|January 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
While there, I missed decent sidewalks, potable tap water, and a subway, markers of a society that cares about the common good.
Invest in America Before It’s Too Late|Pooja Bhatia|October 3, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The water of most of these is potable, but a few are a little saline, though not to such an extent as to influence vegetation.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
The motive to this was a conceit that potable gold could be no other than the universal medicine: and why gold?
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive|John Stuart Mill
The word guma, like aubo, appears to be a generic term for water, or potable liquids.
The Indian in his Wigwam|Henry R. Schoolcraft
That bacteria are not an inevitable element in potable water is proved by their absence from that of deep springs.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists|Various
A chemist reads with interest Djafar's antique method of obtaining nitric He solves the problem of potable gold.
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2)|John William Draper

British Dictionary definitions for potable

potable

/ (ˈpəʊtəbəl) /

adjective

fit to drink; drinkable

noun

something fit to drink; a beverage

Derived forms of potable

potability, noun

Word Origin for potable

C16: from Late Latin pōtābilis drinkable, from Latin pōtāre to drink

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

potable

Origin of potable

OTHER WORDS FROM potable

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH potable

Words nearby potable

Words related to potable

How to use potable in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for potable

Derived forms of potable

Word Origin for potable