endurable

Endurable is an English adjective describing something that can be endured or withstood; capable of being tolerated, borne, or sustained over time. It applies to physical conditions, hardships, or experiences that a person or system can undergo without undue harm.

Etymology and usage: The word is formed from the verb endure plus the suffix -able. It has appeared in English since the early modern period, though it remains relatively formal or literary; in everyday language bearable or tolerable are more common. Endurable often conveys a sense of lasting viability or manageability under strain.

Contexts: In philosophy, psychology, medicine, and literature, endurable conditions are discussed in terms of endurance, resilience, or the limits of suffering. The term can describe not only human experience but also durable performance in machines, materials, or systems that can continue functioning under adverse conditions. In discourse about hardship, endurable situations imply a threshold that a person can persevere through without crossing into intolerable damage or collapse.

See also: bearable, tolerable, endurance, resilience. Endurable may appear as a descriptor in scholarly writing, literary analysis, or technical documentation, where precise nuance about what can be sustained under pressure is important.