Etymologically
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sustainable

Etymology and origin of the English word sustainable

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1611

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səˈsteɪnəbəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from sustain and -able.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bearable: 1611 in the OED, the 1610s in Etymonline; this sense is obsolete.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Capable of being upheld or defended is from 1845.[2][4] Capable of being maintained at a certain rate or level, and sustainable growth, are from 1965.[2][4] Sustainability is from 1972.[4] The environmental sense, using resources in a way that does not deplete them, is late 20th-century.[5][6]

Timeline

  • 1611 – bearable (obsolete).[4]
  • 1845 – defensible.[2][4]
  • 1965 – able to be maintained.[2][4]
  • 1972 – sustainability.[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Able to be maintained at a certain level.
  2. Using natural resources without depleting them or damaging the environment.
  3. Able to be upheld or defended.

Word family

  • sustainability
  • sustainably
  • nonsustainable
  • unsustainable

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Sustainable.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sustainable. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·