Meanings
comparative more potable · superlative most potable
- formalGood for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.
potable water
1 more example
The water from this river should not be considered potable without disinfection: you may be OK if you drink it raw, but you're gambling if you do so.
Synonyms: drinkable, drinkworthy
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveGood for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivesuitable for drinking
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*peh₃-“to drink”
- Proto-Italic*pōtos
- Latinpōtāre“to drink”
- Late Latinpōtābilis“drinkable, potable”
- Old Frenchpotable
- Middle Englishpotable“drinkable, potable”
- Englishpotable
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English potable (“drinkable, potable”), from Middle French, Old French potable (modern French potable (“drinkable, potable”)), and from its etymon Late Latin pōtābilis (“drinkable, potable”), from Latin pōtāre (“to drink”) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon). Pōtāre is the present active infinitive of pōtō (“to drink”), from Proto-Italic *pōtos, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃- (“to drink”). The English word is cognate with Catalan potable, Italian potabile, Spanish potable. The noun is derived from the adjective.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic صالِحٌ لِلشُّرْب
- صالِحٌ لِلشُّرْب (ṣāliḥun li-š-šurb)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Bulgarian питеен
- питеен (piteen)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Catalan potable
- potablegood for drinking — see also drinkable
Chinese Mandarin 可飲用的 /可饮用的
- 可飲用的 /可饮用的 (kě yǐnyòng de)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Czech pitný
- pitnýgood for drinking — see also drinkable
Dutch drinkbaar
- drinkbaargood for drinking — see also drinkable
Esperanto trinkebla
- trinkeblagood for drinking — see also drinkable
Finnish juomakelpoinen, juotava
- juomakelpoinengood for drinking — see also drinkable
- juotavagood for drinking — see also drinkable
French potable
- potablegood for drinking — see also drinkable
German trinkbar
- trinkbargood for drinking — see also drinkable
Greek πόσιμος
- πόσιμος (pósimos)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Hindi पेय
- पेय (pey)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Hungarian iható
- ihatógood for drinking — see also drinkable
Italian potabile
- potabilegood for drinking — see also drinkable
Latin poculentus, pōtābilis
- poculentusgood for drinking — see also drinkable
- pōtābilisgood for drinking — see also drinkable
Persian آشامیدنی
- آشامیدنی (âšâmidani)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Polish pitny
- pitnygood for drinking — see also drinkable
Portuguese potável, bebível
- potávelgood for drinking — see also drinkable
- bebívelgood for drinking — see also drinkable
Romanian potabil
- potabilgood for drinking — see also drinkable
Russian питьево́й
- питьево́й (pitʹjevój)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Spanish potable, bebedizo
- potablegood for drinking — see also drinkable
- bebedizogood for drinking — see also drinkable
Swedish drickbar
- drickbargood for drinking — see also drinkable
Ukrainian питни́й
- питни́й (pytnýj)good for drinking — see also drinkable
Welsh yfadwy
- yfadwygood for drinking — see also drinkable
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
potable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable
“potable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “potable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable.
Source: potable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.