viable

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French viable, with semantic influence of Latin viābilis (“passable”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪəbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪəbəl
• Hyphenation: vi‧a‧ble

Adjective

viable (comparative more viable, superlative most viable)

1. Able to live on its own (as for a newborn).
2. Able to be done, possible, practicable, feasible.

   a viable option

3. Capable of working successfully
   • 2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 42:

     Barker believed that evidence was emerging that a "solid proportion" of operations were "grossly uneconomic", and that no amount of improvement in equipment would make them viable. He suggested that "while the superstructure of the report is correct, the foundations require radical re-examination".

4. (biology) Able to live and develop.

Antonyms

• inviable

Derived terms

• minimal viable product
• minimum viable product
• nonviable
• viability
• viably

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷeyh₃- (0 c, 34 e)

Translations

able to live on its own

Belarusian: жыццяздо́льны (žyccjazdólʹny) Bulgarian: жизнеспосо́бен (bg) (žiznesposóben) Catalan: viable (ca) Czech: životaschopný (cs) m Danish: levedygtig Dutch: levensvatbaar (nl) Esperanto: vivipova, vivebla Estonian: eluvõimeline, elujõuline Finnish: elinkelpoinen French: viable (fr) German: lebensfähig Greek: βιώσιμος (el) (viósimos) Ancient: βιώσιμος (biṓsimos) Hebrew: בר־חיות m (bar-khiyút), בר־קיימה m (bar-kayamá) Hungarian: életképes (hu) Italian: vivibile (it) Japanese: 生きられる (ja) (ikirareru), 生き残れる (ja) (ikinokoreru) Portuguese: viável (pt) Russian: жизнеспосо́бный (ru) (žiznesposóbnyj) Spanish: viable (es) Swedish: livsduglig (sv) Ukrainian: життєзда́тний (žyttjezdátnyj)

possible

Bulgarian: възмо́жен (bg) (vǎzmóžen), осъществи́м (bg) (osǎštestvím) Catalan: viable (ca) Dutch: uitvoerbaar (nl) Esperanto: farebla Estonian: elluviidav Finnish: mahdollinen (fi) French: viable (fr) German: machbar (de) Greek: εφικτός (el) (efiktós), πραγματοποιήσιμος (el) (pragmatopoiísimos) Hebrew: אפשרי m (efsharí), בעל היתכנות m (báal hitakhnút) Hungarian: járható (hu) Italian: attuabile (it), fattibile (it), praticabile (it) Portuguese: viável (pt) Russian: возмо́жный (ru) (vozmóžnyj), осуществи́мый (ru) (osuščestvímyj) Spanish: viable (es) Swedish: genomförbar (sv), gångbar (sv)

(biology) able to live and develop

Bulgarian: жизнеспосо́бен (bg) (žiznesposóben) German: überlebensfähig (de), lebensfähig, entwicklungsfähig Greek: Ancient: βιώσιμος (biṓsimos) Hebrew: בר־חיות m (bar-khiyút) Spanish: viable (es)

Noun

viable (plural viables)

1. (biology) An organism that is able to live and develop.

Further reading

• “viable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “viable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

French

Etymology

From vie (“life”) +‎ -able.

Adjective

viable (plural viables)

1. viable, feasible

Descendants

• → Portuguese: viável

Further reading

• “viable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjable/ [ˈbja.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: via‧ble

Adjective

viable m or f (masculine and feminine plural viables)

1. viable

Derived terms

• inviable
• viabilidad

Further reading

• “viable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024