Etymology

viable

vi·a·ble
V4I1A1B3L1E1

Today it means: Able to live on its own (as for a newborn). Full definition →

French viable
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The story

  1. French · derived fromviable
  2. English todayviable

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.