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sustainable

UK/səˈsteɪnəbəl/US/səˈsteɪnəbəl/
adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,585 of 15,258mostly written

Sustainable means able to continue without using the world up. Sustainable farming, a sustainable pace, sustainable development.

The standard definition comes from the Brundtland report of 1987: meeting the needs of the present without stopping future generations meeting theirs. The word is now so widely claimed in advertising that it often means nothing at all.

Definitions of sustainable

  1. 1adjectivesustainableAble to continue without using the world up.B2+

    “The café only serves fish from sustainable sources.”

sustainable is a quality of continuance.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *ten-

  2. Latin

    sustineō — to uphold

  3. Old French

    sustenir

  4. Middle English

    susteinen

  5. English

    sustain

  6. English, today

    sustainable

Built from

  • sub- · Latin — from below, up
  • teneō · Latin — hold

From sustain + -able. sustain comes from Middle English susteinen, sustenen, from Old French sustenir (French soutenir), from Latin sustineō (“to uphold”), from sub- (“from below, up”) + teneō (“hold”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Science & Space

Practise this word

sustainable in the wild

  • The Brundtland Commission Report, published in 1987, helped to make the concept of sustainable development better known.

    Sustainable development

  • There are some problems with the concept of sustainable development.

    Sustainable development

  • Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development.

    Agenda 21

  • Especially in light of the massive societal transformations needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, contemporary infrastructure conversations frequently focus on sustainable development and green infrastructure.

    Infrastructure

  • When developing agriculture within the sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business processes and farming practices.

    Sustainable agriculture

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the teneō family

maintainentertain

sustainable — used about once every 23,598 pages · #13,585 · point at the bar for the others

  • sustainably
  • unsustainable