durable

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English durable,^[2] borrowed from Old French durable, recorded in French from the 11th century,^[3][4] and also directly from Latin dūrābilis (“lasting, permanent”),^[4][3][2] formed from dūrō (“to last, endure; to harden”) and -ābilis,^[5][6][4] from dūrus (“hard, unyielding”).^[3][4][7] The Anglo-Norman adjective, recorded from the early 12th century, already meant lasting, enduring and persevering, and was used of eternal life.^[8] Etymonline traces the Latin adjective to Proto-Indo-European *dru-ro-, a suffixed form of *deru- (“to be firm, solid, steadfast”),^[4] while the American Heritage Dictionary refers the verb to *deuə-.^[9] Barnhart also allows that the English adjective may be a back-formation from durability, which is recorded slightly earlier.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to last, lasting, not passing away: c. 1386, in Chaucer's Parson's Tale,^[3] which the MED dates c. 1390: "To han thynges espirituel and durable".^[2][6] The noun durablete, durability, appears about 1380 in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word appears as a surname from the late 13th century, probably meaning "steadfast",^[4] and the Oxford Dictionary of English gives "steadfast" as its first sense in Middle English.^[10] The MED records it for "steadfast, persistent, unyielding",^[2] and the senses "able to bear toil or hardship" (1541–1616) and "bearable" (1509) are now obsolete.^[3][11] From 1398, in Trevisa, it meant able to resist wear or decay.^[3][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as lasting, having the quality of long continuance.^[12] In economics, durable goods, which stay useful over a long time, are recorded from 1930,^[3][4] and the noun durables from the mid-20th century.^[11] In Durham dialect a durable person was one who liked to sit long and late in conversation.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – durablete, durability.^[6]
• c. 1386 – lasting, not transitory.^[3]
• 1398 – able to withstand wear or decay.^[3]
• 1509 – bearable (obsolete).^[3]
• 1541–1616 – able to endure toil (obsolete).^[3]
• 1930 – durable goods.^[3][4]
• mid 20th century – noun, durables.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to last a long time without wearing out or decaying; hard-wearing: These boots are made of durable leather.^[14][5][3]
2. Lasting, enduring; not passing quickly: a durable peace.^[14][5][3]
3. Of goods: staying useful over a long period, as opposed to goods used up at once.^[3][11]
4. (obsolete, 1541–1616) Able to endure toil or hardship; steadfast.^[3][11]

Noun

1. A durable manufactured article, usually in the plural, as in consumer durables.^[11]

Word family

• durability
• durably
• durableness
• undurable

Related words

• endure
• duration
• obdurate
• dure

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins