Stable

How to spell stable

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stable

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stable mean?

1. adjectiveFirmly fixed, steady, and not likely to change or fail.
2. nounA building in which horses are kept and fed.

Stable in a sentence

• adjective

  The patient's condition remained stable overnight.

• noun

  She led the pony back into its stable for the night.

• adjective

  A wide base makes the ladder more stable on uneven ground.

• noun

  The old stable behind the farmhouse still smells of hay.

Where does stable come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word arrives in English along two related Latin paths that eventually settled on the same spelling. The adjective traces to the Latin stabilis, meaning 'firm' or 'steadfast', built on the verb stare, 'to stand'; something stable was literally something that could keep standing. The noun for a horse building comes from the Latin stabulum, 'a standing place' or 'lodging', again rooted in that same idea of standing still in one spot. Both came into English through Old French during the 1200s and 1300s, the adjective as 'estable' and the building as 'estable' or 'stable'. The shared stare root also gives us 'stand', 'station', 'stationary', and 'establish', so the sense of standing firm runs quietly through the whole family and helps explain the steady -able ending.

How the word is built

• sta- (from Latin stare: to stand)
• -ble (adjective suffix: able to)