• viable •
Pronunciation: vai-ê-bêl • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Workable, capable of proceeding toward success, capable of development, as 'a viable plan or strategy'. 2. Capable of living on its own, out of the womb, as 'a viable fetus'.
Notes: Just remember to remove the final E when you add the adverb suffix -ly, viably, as we do with all adjectives on -able. The quality noun is viability. This adjective may be negated, inviable, not to be confused with enviable.
In Play: In its first sense, we might hear viable in something like this: "I don't think a helicopter ejection seat is a viable product for our company." Today US politics is filled with this word in its second sense: "Roe v. Wade allowed abortions until the fetus becomes viable."
Word History: Today's Good Word was snatched from French, who created it from vie "life" + -able "capable of". Vie was inherited by French from Latin vita "life", from Proto-Indo-European gwei-/gwoi- "to live, life", source also of Sanskrit jivatuh "life", Greek bios "life(time)", Armenian oghj "alive", Russian žit', živu "to live, I live" and život "stomach", Serbian živ "alive" and život "life", Breton boued "food", Cornish boos "food", Irish beatha "life; food", Welsh bywyd "life" and byd "world", Latvian dzivs "alive", Lithuanian gyvas "alive" and gaivus "refreshing", Norwegian kvik "nimble, quick", and English quick. (Now for a note of gratitude to our old friend and constant word contributor William Hupy for today's quite fascinating Good Word.)
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