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
Moones Alamooti, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2025
The permeable ties between universities and business are another.
—Peter Vanham, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
So, the landscape architect developed the Sponge City and Sponge Planet concepts, which advocate for cities to use permeable surfaces, landscaping and green spaces to absorb and filter water.
—Elisabeth Brier, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
When fresh and salt water are separated by a semi-permeable membrane, water molecules naturally move across the barrier to balance the difference.
—New Atlas, 16 Sep. 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 31 Oct. 2025.
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permeable
adjective
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permeable
adjective
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