durable

English

Etymology

From Middle English durable, from Old French durable, from Latin dūrābilis (“lasting, permanent”), from dūrō (“harden, make hard”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʊɹəbəl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdjʊəɹəbəl/
• (colloquial British English) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒʊəɹəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

durable (comparative more durable, superlative most durable)

1. Able to resist wear or decay; lasting; enduring.

   Antonyms: undurable, nondurable, unlasting, ephemeral, transient, transitory; consumable, perishable; see also Thesaurus:lasting

   Hyponyms: permanent, everlasting, perpetual, eternal, undying

   Near-synonyms: persistent, long-lasting, lasting, hard-wearing; see also Thesaurus:lasting

   durable batteries

   I forged a durable relationship with my seatmate.

   • 2017 July 16, Jenny Marc, Katy Scott, “Revolutionary gel is five times stronger than steel”, in CNN‎^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 2 July 2025:

     Researchers have developed a new gel they say is as durable as metal, has the flexibility of jello, and could revolutionize how our bodies heal and age.

Derived terms

• durability
• durable good
• durable medical equipment
• durableness
• durably
• semidurable
• superdurable
• ultradurable
• undurable

Translations

able to resist wear; enduring — see also enduring,‎ endurable

• Arabic: متين (ar)
• Armenian: դիմացկուն (hy) (dimacʻkun), տոկուն (hy) (tokun)
• Asturian: duraderu, durable
• Azerbaijani: etibarlı, davamlı, möhkəm (az) (of materials)
• Bulgarian: траен (bg) (traen), устойчив (bg) (ustojčiv)
• Catalan: durable (ca), durador (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (of goods) 耐用 (zh) (nàiyòng), 耐久 (zh) (nàijiǔ), (of clothing) 耐穿 (zh) (nàichuān)

• Danish: holdbar, slidstærk, varig
• Dutch: duurzaam (nl)
• Finnish: kestävä (fi), luja (fi)
• French: durable (fr)
• Galician: durable (gl), durábel (gl)
• Georgian: გამძლე (gamʒle)
• German: strapazierfähig (de), haltbar (de), dauerhaft (de)
• Greek: ανθεκτικός (el) (anthektikós), γερός (el) (gerós)
• Hungarian: tartós (hu)
• Irish: buanfasach
• Italian: durabile
• Japanese: 固い (ja) (katai), 強い (ja) (tsuyoi), 丈夫な (ja) (jōbu na)
• Latin: dūrābilis
• Lithuanian: patvarus m, tvarus m
• Macedonian: и́здржлив (ízdržliv)
• Māori: pūmau
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: slitesterk

  Nynorsk: slitesterk

• Plautdietsch: duarhauft
• Portuguese: duradouro (pt), duradoiro, durável (pt)
• Romanian: trainic (ro), durabil (ro)
• Russian: про́чный (ru) (próčnyj), надёжный (ru) (nadjóžnyj), сто́йкий (ru) (stójkij), долгове́чный (ru) (dolgovéčnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: maireannach, buan, seasmhach
• Spanish: durable (es)
• Swedish: slitstark (sv), tålig (sv), hållbar (sv), varaktig (sv)
• Telugu: మన్నికైన (mannikaina)
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: پاینده (payende, payanda)

Noun

durable (plural durables)

1. (economics) A durable thing, one useful over more than one period, especially a year.
   • 1989, Robert A. Pollak, The theory of the cost-of-living index, page 188:

     In a frictionless world with perfect rental markets, there is an unambiguous cost associated with the use of a durable for a single period.

Antonyms

• nondurable

Translations

durable thing

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 耐用品 (zh) (nàiyòngpǐn)

• Finnish: kestokulutustavara
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• delubra

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin dūrābilis.

Adjective

durable (epicene, plural durables)

1. durable (able to resist wear; enduring)

   Synonym: duraderu

Related terms

• durar

Further reading

• “durable”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN
• García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2002–2004), “durable”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (overall work in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin dūrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [duˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [duˈɾa.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [duˈɾab.ble]

Adjective

durable m or f (masculine and feminine plural durables)

1. durable

   Synonym: durador

Related terms

• durabilitat

Further reading

• “durable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “durable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “durable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “durable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Central Bikol

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂rós

Proto-Italic *dūros

Latin dūrus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin dūrāre, dūrō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin dūrābilisder.

Spanish durablebor.

Central Bikol durable

Borrowed from Spanish durable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duˈɾable/ [d̪uˈɾab.l̪e]
• Hyphenation: du‧rab‧le

Adjective

duráble (intensified durablehon, Basahan spelling ᜇᜓᜍᜊ᜔ᜎᜒ)

1. durable

   Synonyms: matagal, kudat

Derived terms

• pagkadurable

Related terms

• durabilidad

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dūrābilis. Morphologically, from durer +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dy.ʁabl/

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Massy)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Adjective

durable (plural durables)

1. durable
2. sustainable

   développement durable ― sustainable development

Derived terms

• durabilité
• durablement

See also

• écologique, vert
• renouvelable

Further reading

• “durable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂rós

Proto-Italic *dūros

Latin dūrus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin dūrāre, dūrō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin dūrābilisder.

Spanish durable

Derived from Latin dūrābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /duˈɾable/ [d̪uˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: du‧ra‧ble

Adjective

durable m or f (masculine and feminine plural durables)

1. durable

   Synonyms: duradero, perdurable

Further reading

• “durable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026