permeable
adjective
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“Our landscapes are changing … they’re becoming less permeable to wildlife at the precise moment animals need to move most,” writes Ben Goldfarb in his book Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. He’s describing the effects of highway infrastructure and at the same time clearly demonstrating the meaning of permeable, a word that traces back to a combination of the prefix per-, meaning “through,” and the Latin verb meare, meaning “to go” or “to pass.” Accordingly, a permeable landscape—such as one where humans have constructed wildlife overpasses—is one that allows animals to pass and spread through unimpeded. Permeable’s relative, the verb permeate (“to spread or diffuse through”) is another commonly used meare descendent, but other relations haven’t managed to permeate the language quite so widely, such as meatus (“a natural body passage”), congé (“a formal permission to depart”), and irremeable (“offering no possibility of return”).
Examples of permeable in a Sentence
Katie Kitamura, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2025
The combination of tidal zones, resilient vegetation, and permeable surfaces supports biodiversity and forms a living landscape that adapts to the changing rhythms of the Elbe.
—New Atlas, 14 Nov. 2025
From alpine-ready Polartec® Power Shield™ Pro and circular-enabled Polartec® Power Shield™ RPM, to the groundbreaking new Polartec® AirCore™—the industry’s first truly air-permeable membrane—the future of weather protection is being rewritten in the Polartec innovation labs.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 10 Nov. 2025
Our nervous systems are permeable.
—Marc Brackett, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for permeable
Cite this Entry
“Permeable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/permeable. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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permeable
adjective
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permeable
adjective
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