sustainable

English

Etymology

sustain +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səˈsteɪnəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Adjective

sustainable (comparative more sustainable, superlative most sustainable)

1. Able to be sustained.
2. Able to be produced or sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource; renewable.

   sustainable economy

   • 2008, Kate L. Harrison, The Green Bride Guide‎^[1], →ISBN, page 174:

     In addition to the resources listed in the organic and local food sections earlier, a good source of sustainable meat is Heritage Foods USA (heritagefoodsusa.com).

   • 2008 August–October, Dawn Brighid, "A Taste of Hope", in Organic Gardening, ISSN 1536-108X, volume 55, number 6, page 73 [2]:

     Some critics have asserted that sustainable food is "elitist"; that it's too expensive and not widely available.

   • 2010, Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw‎^[3], →ISBN, page 129:

     A city on a hill—or many cities on hills—surrounded by unbroken vistas of beautiful countryside; small, thriving, family-run farms growing organic, seasonal, and sustainable fruits and vegetables specific to the region.

   • 2019, Jason Hickel, “Climate breakdown is coming. The UK needs a Greener New Deal”, in Guardian.:

     Right now, rich nations devour 28 tonnes of material per person per year – including everything from fish to forests, plastics to metals. That’s four times more than ecologists say is sustainable.

Related terms

• sustainability
• sustainable development

Translations

able to be sustained

• Catalan: sostenible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可持續的／可持续的 (kěchíxù de)

• Danish: bæredygtig, holdbar
• Esperanto: daŭrebla
• Estonian: jätkusuutlik, kestlik
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi)
• French: viable (fr)
• Galician: sustentábel (gl)
• German: nachhaltig (de), aufrechterhaltbar, aufrechtzuerhalten (de)
• Italian: sostenibile (it)
• Japanese: 持続可能 (ja) (jizoku-kanō)
• Latvian: ilgtspējīgs
• Malay: mampan
• Maori: whakauka
• Norwegian: bærekraftig
• Polish: możliwy do utrzymania, podtrzymywalny
• Portuguese: sustentável (pt)
• Russian: жизнеспособный (ru) (žiznesposobnyj), усто́йчивый (ru) (ustójčivyj)
• Spanish: sostenible
• Swedish: hållbar (sv)
• Turkish: surdurulebilir

able to be sustained: environmental term

• Catalan: sostenible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可持續的／可持续的 (kěchíxù de)

• Czech: udržitelný (cs) m
• Danish: bæredygtig
• Dutch: duurzaam (nl), verantwoord (nl), verantwoord (nl)
• Esperanto: daŭripova
• Estonian: jätkusuutlik, säästev, kestlik
• Finnish: kestävä (fi), ympäristöä säästävä
• French: durable (fr)
• Galician: sustentábel (gl) m or f
• German: nachhaltig (de)
• Hebrew: בר-קיימא‎
• Hungarian: fenntartható (hu)
• Italian: sostenibile (it)
• Japanese: 持続可能 (ja) (jizoku-kanō)
• Latvian: ilgtspējīgs m
• Malay: mampan, lestari
• Maori: toitū
• Norwegian: bærekraftig
• Polish: możliwy do utrzymania, podtrzymywalny
• Portuguese: sustentável (pt)
• Russian: экологичный (ru) (ekologičnyj), возобновля́емый (ru) (vozobnovljájemyj), усто́йчивый (ru) (ustójčivyj)
• Spanish: sostenible
• Swahili: endelevu
• Swedish: hållbar (sv)
• Tagalog: likas-kaya

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} vernieuwbaar, ^{(please verify)} toelaatbaar (nl), ^{(please verify)} duurzaam (nl)

Noun

sustainable (plural sustainables)

1. A renewable energy source.
   • 1996, Joseph Francis Coates, John B. Mahaffie, Andy Hines, 2025: Scenarios of U.S. and Global Society Reshaped by Science and Technology, page 117:

     It has only been in the last 20 years that the long-term trend away from fossil fuels and toward nuclear energy and sustainables has intensified.

References

• “sustainable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• sustainable in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “sustainable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• balaustines