sustainability

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The ability to sustain something.
  2. A means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these necessary resources for future generations.
  3. The ability to sustain a business in the long term, which is a state that is partly dependent on, but broader than, profitability today or in the short term; it involves aspects of a plausible path toward eventual profitability (as applies to a startup) and ecologic sustainability (for example, the long-term dependence of the timber/lumber industry on forest preservation and renewal, or of fisheries on viable fish stocks).
  4. The ability to sustain a civic practice or process in the long term, such as democracy, entrepreneurialism, a war effort, or others.

Pronunciation

/səˌsteɪnəˈbɪlɪti/ /səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti/ [səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləɾi] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-sustainability.wav En-US sustainability.ogg /səˌstæɪnəˈbɪlɪti/ [səˌstæɪnəˈbɪlɪɾi]

Word forms

sustainability sustainabilities

Etymology

From sustain + -ability.

Translations

Bulgarian: усто́йчивост Catalan: sostenibilitat Danish: bæredygtighed Danish: holdbarhed Dutch: houdbaarheid Esperanto: daŭripovo French: soutenabilité Galician: sustentabilidade Georgian: მდგრადობა German: Zukunftsfähigkeit Greek: αειφορία Hungarian: fenntarthatóság Indonesian: keberlanjutan Indonesian: kelestarian Indonesian: keberlangsungan Italian: sostenibilità Malay: kemampanan Māori: toitūtanga Norwegian Bokmål: bærekraft Norwegian Nynorsk: berekraft Portuguese: sustentabilidade Russian: усто́йчивость Spanish: sostenibilidad Spanish: sustentabilidad Swedish: hållbarhet Swedish: uthållighet Swedish: långsiktighet Swedish: bärkraft
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