Dictionary

sustainability en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti/ (Canada, US)
• (US) audio
• (General-American) audio
• [səˌstæɪnəˈbɪlɪɾi] (Australia)
• /səˌstæɪnəˈbɪlɪti/ (Australia)
• /səˌsteɪnəˈbɪlɪti/ (UK)
• [səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləɾi] (Canada, US)

Etymology

Etymology tree English sustain Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin -abilitas Middle French -abletébor. Middle English -ablete English -ability English sustainability From sustain + -ability.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The ability to sustain something. ▸ A means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these necessary resources for future generations.
   • None of the processing happens out in the open ocean, said Gaurav Sant, an Equatic founder and professor of sustainability at UCLA, “this is important because it allows you to measure everything that you’re doing perfectly.” 2024 April 21, Laura Paddison, “Can this ocean-based carbon plant help save the world? Some scientists are raising red flags”, in CNN:
2. (countable, uncountable) The ability to sustain something. ▸ The ability to sustain a business in the long term, which is a state that is partly dependent on, but broader than, profitability today or in the short term; it involves aspects of a plausible path toward eventual profitability (as applies to a startup) and ecologic sustainability (for example, the long-term dependence of the timber/lumber industry on forest preservation and renewal, or of fisheries on viable fish stocks).
   • In a war of words that has broken out between Khan and Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, the Mayor was accused of sending revenue-raising proposals to Shapps some three weeks late, giving him little choice but to extend negotiations. Khan countered this by alleging that 'unfair' conditions, such as raising council tax, are being attached to any new funding deal that would "punish Londoners" for the effect the pandemic has had on passenger numbers. He added: "These short-term deals are trapping TfL on life support rather than putting it on the path to long-term sustainability." 2022 January 12, “Network News: Further extension to Transport for London emergency funding”, in RAIL, number 948, page 8:
   • The making of buggy whips is the proverbial exemplar of a business without sustainability in the face of technological change.
3. (countable, qualifier:civics, uncountable) The ability to sustain something. ▸ The ability to sustain a civic practice or process in the long term, such as democracy, entrepreneurialism, a war effort, or others.
   • universal primary and secondary education, without which the sustainability of innovation and entrepreneurialism seems questionable
4. (countable, uncountable) The ability to sustain something.

Forms

Antonyms

unsustainability

Deriveds

seismic sustainability · biosustainability · nonsustainability

Relateds

resilience · sustainable · sustenance · sustain · resiliency

Translations (59)

fr durabilité (ecological sense) · la sustinābilitās (ability to sustain something) · hu fenntarthatóság (ability to sustain something) · ca sostenibilitat (ecological sense) · sv hållbarhet (ecological sense) · nb bærekraft (ecological sense) · ja サステイナビリティ (ecological sense) · eo daŭripovo (ecological sense) · fi kestävyys (ability to sustain something) · sw uendelevu (ecological sense) · sv bärkraft (ability to sustain something) · es sustentabilidad (ecological sense) · tr sürdürülebilirlik (ecological sense) · uk сталість довкілля (ecological sense) · lv ilgtspēja (ecological sense) · id keberlangsungan (ecological sense) · el αειφορία (ecological sense) · de Zukunftsfähigkeit (ability to sustain something) · ro sustenabilitate (ecological sense) · sv långsiktighet (ability to sustain something) · ru экологическая устойчивость (ecological sense) · hu fenntarthatóság (ecological sense) · ca sostenibilitat (ability to sustain something) · id kelestarian (ability to sustain something) · pt sustentabilidade (ecological sense) · bg усто́йчивост (ability to sustain something) · gl sustentabilidade (ability to sustain something) · ru усто́йчивость (ability to sustain something) · es sostenibilidad (ability to sustain something) · id keberlanjutan (ability to sustain something) · sv hållbarhet (ability to sustain something) · nb bærekraft (ability to sustain something) · la sustinābilitās (ecological sense) · da bæredygtighed (ecological sense) · el αειφορία (ability to sustain something) · fr soutenabilité (ability to sustain something) · sv uthållighet (ability to sustain something) · nl houdbaarheid (ability to sustain something) · ka მდგრადობა (ability to sustain something) · eo daŭripovo (ability to sustain something) · es sostenibilidad (ecological sense) · fi kestävyys (ecological sense) · da holdbarhed (ability to sustain something) · nn berekraft (ability to sustain something) · ms kemampanan (ability to sustain something) · mi toitūtanga (ecological sense) · ro durabilitate (ecological sense) · es sustentabilidad (ability to sustain something) · da bæredygtighed (ability to sustain something) · de Nachhaltigkeit (ecological sense) · it sostenibilità (ecological sense) · ka მდგრადობა (ecological sense) · mi toitūtanga (ability to sustain something) · ja 持続可能性 (ecological sense) · nl duurzaamheid (ecological sense) · tr sürdürebilirlik (ecological sense) · pt sustentabilidade (ability to sustain something) · id keberlangsungan (ability to sustain something) · it sostenibilità (ability to sustain something)