Stability

How to spell stability

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce stability

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stability mean?

1. nounThe quality of being steady, firmly fixed, or unlikely to change or fail.

Stability in a sentence

• The new wider base gives the bookcase much greater stability.

• Investors look for political stability before committing their money.

Where does stability come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin stabilitas, meaning 'firmness' or 'steadiness', which was built on the adjective stabilis, 'standing firm', and ultimately on the verb stare, 'to stand'. English took it up in the late fourteenth century through Old French stableté, originally referring to physical steadiness and the quality of staying upright. Over time the sense broadened from things that literally stand firm to anything that holds steady, whether a government, a currency, or a mood. The same stare root quietly sits inside a whole family of relatives, including 'stable', 'establish', 'stage', and even 'stamina'. For spelling, it helps to remember that the middle is the ordinary word 'stab' plus 'ility', so the troublesome part is simply the unstressed -bil- before -ity rather than any silent letter.

How the word is built

• sta- (from Latin stare: to stand)
• -bil- (capable of)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix denoting state or quality)