permeable

From Middle English permeable, permiable, from Latin permeābilis.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː(ɹ)miəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

permeable (comparative more permeable, superlative most permeable)

1. Able to be permeated; absorbing or allowing the passage of fluids.

   Synonym: water-permeable

   Antonyms: impermeable, impervious, nonpermeable

   permeable strata

   Rainwater sinks through permeable rock to form an underground reservoir.

   • 1948, Publications of the National Bureau of Standards, page 213:

     One hundred thirty-one small, highly permeable masonry wall specimens built of concrete blocks or of bricks were treated with cement-water paints or with other waterproofings.

3. (by extension) Allowing the passage of persons, information, or other things, especially when such passage occurs despite hopes or expectations otherwise.

   Synonym: penetrable

   Antonyms: impermeable, impenetrable, nonpermeable

   permeable borders

   permeable boundaries

• porous

Borrowed from Latin permeābilis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pər.meˈab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [peɾ.meˈa.ble]

permeable m or f (masculine and feminine plural permeables)

1. permeable

   Antonym: impermeable

• permeabilitat

From Latin permeābilis.

• IPA^(key): /peɾmeˈable/ [peɾ.meˈa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: per‧me‧a‧ble

permeable m or f (masculine and feminine plural permeables)

1. permeable

   Antonym: impermeable

• “permeable”, 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