pervius

Pervius is a Latin adjective meaning "passable, permeable, through-going, accessible." It is formed from per- meaning "through" and via meaning "way" or "road." In classical Latin, pervius is relatively rare and is used to describe passages, channels, or routes that permit passage, or to characterize something as open or readily traversable. The term can occur in compounds or in phrases indicating throughgoing continuity, such as a "through-road" or "throughway."

The word has yielded the English adjective pervious, which preserves the sense of being permeable or capable of being penetrated. In modern English, pervious is most common in technical contexts: pervious rock or soil refers to material that allows fluids to pass; pervious pavement or pervious concrete are terms in civil engineering describing surfaces that infiltrate water. The more common antonym is impervious, meaning not allowing passage.

Outside of technical usage, pervius as a standalone Latin term is primarily encountered in philology, etymology, or discussions of Latin vocabulary. It forms part of the historical vocabulary from which English "pervious" derives, and it is studied mainly for linguistic heritage rather than as an active term in contemporary discourse.

See also: permeable, porosity, impervious, permeability, Latin etymology.