potable

pot·a·ble
P3O1T1A1B3L1E1
UK/ˈpəʊtəbəl/UK, nonstandard/ˈpɒt-/US/ˈpoʊtəbəl/US, nonstandard/ˈpɑt-/

adjective

Good for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.

“potable water”

Less commonScrabble 11

Meanings

adjectivepotable (comparative more potable, superlative most potable)

comparative more potable · superlative most potable

  1. 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

nounpotable (plural potables)

plural potables

  1. Any drinkable liquid; a beverage.

    When solar beams / Parch thirsty human veins, the damask'd meads, / Unforc'd display ten thousand painted flow'rs / Useful in potables.

    1708, [John Philips], “(please specify the page)”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveGood for drinking without fear of waterborne disease or poisoning.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivesuitable for drinking

Similar

nounany liquid suitable for drinking

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₃-“to drink”
  2. Proto-Italic*pōtos
  3. Latinpōtāre“to drink”
  4. Late Latinpōtābilis“drinkable, potable”
  5. Old Frenchpotable
  6. Middle Englishpotable“drinkable, potable”
  7. 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.

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

pottable (non-standard)portable (non-rhotic)pottable (non-standard)portable (non-rhotic)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

potable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable

MLA

“potable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “potable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potable.

Source: potable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.