potable
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonpotable adjective
- potability noun
- potableness noun
- unpotable adjective
Etymology
Origin of potable
1565–75; < Late Latin pōtābilis drinkable, equivalent to Latin pōtā ( re ) to drink + -bilis -ble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are shortages of food and potable water.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
The crew also does not have access to potable drinking water.
From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026
Burr and his co-conspirators absconded with the money, and it took another 40 years for New Yorkers to gain wide access to potable water.
From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025
The artificial intelligence platforms created by Musk and his compatriots gobbled up ever greater shares of US gross domestic product, energy output and potable water.
From Salon • Nov. 7, 2025
To make the water potable, the Maya laid a layer of crushed limestone atop the sediments, effectively paving over the salt.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
