viable English · revision 10807

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1823|origins=fr viable}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvaɪ.ə.bəl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|viable|t=capable of life]] (1530s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from vie, life, from Latin vīta (see [[vital]]), and -able.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a newborn infant, capable of living: 1823 in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) 1828–32 in Webster's Dictionary, which Barnhart and the OED take as the first record.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An 1827 article on infanticide adopted the word from French because English had nothing as expressive, the proposed rearable being too vague.^(Etymonline) Other physical uses, of seeds or cells able to grow, are from 1885.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, able to exist independently, is first recorded in 1848,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and workable or practicable in 1955 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-19th century in Word Origins.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Viability'' is from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1823 – capable of living (of infants).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – able to exist (figurative).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1885 – of seeds or cells.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1955 – workable.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Capable of working or succeeding; [[feasible]]: ''a viable plan''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Capable of living or developing, as a seed, egg or cell.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a fetus, able to live outside the womb.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[viability]]

+ * [[viably]]

+ * [[unviable]]

+ * [[nonviable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vital]]

+ * [[vivid]]

+ * [[revive]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}