potable
[poh-tuh-buh l]
- fit or suitable for drinking: potable water.
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- Usually potables. drinkable liquids; beverages.
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Origin of potable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for potable
Contemporary Examples
While there, I missed decent sidewalks, potable tap water, and a subway, markers of a society that cares about the common good.
Historical Examples
We have so far discussed only the various sources of potable water.
Beside him strode his shadow, and lengthened as the sun westered in a haze of potable gold.
Brother CopasSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
That bacteria are not an inevitable element in potable water is proved by their absence from that of deep springs.
At the time of my visit there was but scanty water in the canyon and that not potable except for stock.
Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895Jesse Walter Fewkes
They flow very clear—running over the chalk, clean and potable streams.
The Old RoadHilaire Belloc
potable
- fit to drink; drinkable
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- something fit to drink; a beverage
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for potable
adj.
early 15c., from Old French potable (14c.) and directly from Late Latin potabilis "drinkable," from Latin potare "to drink" (see potion).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
potable
(pō′tə-bəl)- Fit to drink; drinkable.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.