Dictionary

endurable en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ɪnˈdɝ.ɪ.bəl/ (General-American)
• /ɪnˈd(j)ʊɹ.ɪ.bəl/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin indūrō Latin indūrāreder. Old French endurerbor. Middle English enduren English endure Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English endurable From endure + -able.

Meanings

1. Able to be endured; tolerable; bearable.
   • A sharp keen wind blew dead against us; a hard frost prevailed on shore; and the cold was most severe. Yet the air was so intensely clear, and dry, and bright, that the temperature was not only endurable, but delicious. 1842, Charles Dickens, chapter II, in American Notes for General Circulation. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
   • A novelist can run on and on (and, alas, does!). He can perversely take twenty words to describe the Apocalypse and fifty pages to chronicle the hero's shaving, and still be endurable, because the reader can always slap the book shut and continue it only when he is in the mood. 1933, Sinclair Lewis, “The Art of Dramatization”, in Harry E. Maule, Melville H. Cane, editors, The Man from Main Street: Selected Essays and Other Writings: 1904-1950, New York: Pocket Books, published 1963, page 221:
   • As his bodily strength increased, and his health, considerably impaired by inward suffering, improved, the trouble of his soul became more endurable—and in some measure to endure is to conquer and destroy. 1871, George Macdonald, “The Broken Swords”, in The Cruel Painter and Other Stories, London: Strahan & Co., page 191:
   • Misery colored by the greens and blues in my mother's voice took all of the grief out of the words and left me with a conviction that pain was not only endurable, it was sweet. 1970, Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, New York: Vintage, published 2007, page 26:
   • And when belief was dead and God a myth, / And the world seemed a wandering mote of evil, / Endurable only by its impermanence, / And all the planets perishable urns / Of perishable ashes, to you alone I clung / Amid the unspeakable loneliness of the universe. 1919, J. C. Squire, “Envoi”, in Poems: First Series, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 115:
2. Capable of enduring; likely to endure; durable.
   • Albert E. Brum was born into one of Petawawa’s founding families who eventually established one of the area’s most endurable businesses. 2012 September 29, Sean Chase, “Surviving Devil's Brigade member to receive Congressional Gold Medal”, in The Toronto Sun:
   • […] the agriculturist would outlive the struggle, and his property be as fixed and endurable as the oaks which were planted by his ancestors. 1834 March 21, John Tyrell, Hansard, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2019:

Forms

Deriveds

endurably · endurableness · unendurable · endurability

Synonyms

hard-wearing · supportable · protracted · survivable · longevitous · portable · survivable · enduring · lasting · persistent · longsome · withstandable · perdurable · portable · long-drawn-out · sufferable · durative · durable · prolonged · long-lasting · standing · extending · bearable · abiding · endurable · long-lived · long-lasting · longevous · chronic · livable · continuate · sufferable · diuturnal · endurable · persistent · tolerable · abiding · abideable

Translations (23)

ru терпи́мый (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · ga sofhulaingthe (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · es aguantable (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · fr tolérable (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · cs snesitelný (likely to endure; durable) · de erträglich (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · gv so-ymmyrkey (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · bg поноси́м (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · es endurable (likely to endure; durable) · es soportable (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · bg търпи́м (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · grc φορητός (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · fr endurable (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · cs snesitelný (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · es perdurable (likely to endure; durable) · ru выноси́мый (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · de verkraftbar (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · nl duurzaam (likely to endure; durable) · ru сно́сный (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · grc ἐμμενετός (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · la tolerabilis (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · nl draaglijk (able to be endured; tolerable; bearable) · bg траен (likely to endure; durable)