reusable

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + usable,^[2][3] after the verb reuse,^[3] while Merriam-Webster takes it as reuse with the suffix -able.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to be used again; fit for a second or further use: 1877, in a report of the British Association of Gas Managers.^[3] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to 1877.^[4] The 1989 edition of the OED recorded it only from 1959,^[6] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate from 1943,^[7] and Etymonline from 1922, noting that non-reusable is attested from 1905.^[2]

Timeline

• 1877 – able to be used again.^[3][4] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it only to 1959,^[6] and Etymonline to 1922.^[2]
• 1905 – the negative non-reusable.^[2]
• 1970 – the noun reusability, in the 1989 edition of the OED.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to be used again or many times, rather than thrown away after one use: reusable shopping bags.^[8][4][3]

Word family

• reusability
• nonreusable

Related words

• reuse
• usable
• use

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins