potable

[ poh-tuh-buhl ]

adjective

1. fit or suitable for drinking:

   potable water.

noun

1. Usually potables. drinkable liquids; beverages.

potable

/ ˈpəʊtəbəl /

adjective

1. fit to drink; drinkable

noun

1. something fit to drink; a beverage

Derived Forms

• ˌpotaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• pota·bili·ty pota·ble·ness noun
• non·pota·ble adjective noun
• un·pota·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of potable¹

1565–75; < Late Latin pōtābilis drinkable, equivalent to Latin pōtā ( re ) to drink + -bilis -ble

Word History and Origins

Origin of potable¹

C16: from Late Latin pōtābilis drinkable, from Latin pōtāre to drink

Example Sentences

Access to water in the eastern Coachella Valley cannot be separated out from development and cannot be separated out from issues of growth and the right to clean and potable water.

From ProPublica

Desalination is the process of removing mineral components from saltwater to produce potable water for drinking and farming needs.

From Popular-Science

Maybe you need to figure out the water levels of a river at certain times of year, or determine if there’s potable water along your route, or learn about what the weather is typically like.

From Outside Online

With the exception of the Scorpion Canyon Campground on Santa Cruz and the Water Canyon Campground on Santa Rosa, there’s also no potable water.

From Outside Online

The lawsuit contended that contaminants from Plant Scherer caused a “loss of potable water supply and increased risk of diseases.”

From ProPublica

Her goal is to reduce that number by making sure potable water is available and accessible to all.

From The Daily Beast

But how many days can 300,000 people go without potable water before you can call it a full-blown crisis?

From The Daily Beast

While there, I missed decent sidewalks, potable tap water, and a subway, markers of a society that cares about the common good.

From The Daily Beast

The water of most of these is potable, but a few are a little saline, though not to such an extent as to influence vegetation.

From Project Gutenberg

The motive to this was a conceit that potable gold could be no other than the universal medicine: and why gold?

From Project Gutenberg

The word guma, like aubo, appears to be a generic term for water, or potable liquids.

From Project Gutenberg

That bacteria are not an inevitable element in potable water is proved by their absence from that of deep springs.

From Project Gutenberg

A chemist reads with interest Djafar's antique method of obtaining nitric He solves the problem of potable gold.

From Project Gutenberg