Agency Dictionary

Permeability

nounPronunciation: /ˌpɜː.mi.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/

What does “Permeability” mean?

The state or quality of being permeable, allowing liquids, gases, or symbolic influences to pass through.

Etymology

From French perméabilité, equivalent to permeable plus the abstract-noun suffix -ity. Permeable itself comes from Late Latin permeabilis (able to be passed through), from permeāre (to pass through), composed of per- (through) and meāre (to go, to pass, to flow). The noun names the quality of allowing fluids, gases, or symbolic influences to pass through a material or boundary.

Usage note

In materials science and geology, permeability has precise technical meanings. In figurative use it names the degree to which a cultural, social, or institutional boundary allows ideas, people, or influences to pass.

Synonyms

porosity
penetrability

Word family

permeable
impermeable
permeate
permeation
permeating

Rhymes with

stability
agility
mobility
fertility
hostility

Concepts

Source editions

Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.

Research.1 - PermeabilityAugust 29, 2026Read the edition

Words of the same theme

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eppur si muoveother: An Italian phrase meaning and yet it moves. It is used to affirm that a fact remains true no matter who denies it.
Treatisenoun: A formal, systematic, and comprehensive written work dealing methodically with the principles and evidence of a particular philosophical, scientific, or technical subject.
Maximnoun: A concise statement expressing a fundamental principle, general truth, or practical rule of conduct.
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rhetoricnoun: The art of effective and persuasive speaking or writing, especially through strategic linguistic devices.
Tangibleadjective: Perceptible by the sense of touch or capable of being physically grasped and measured in concrete physical reality. It distinguishes concrete material products from virtual or intellectual entities.

Also from these editions: terms

Affectnoun: An expressed or experienced emotion, feeling, or visceral response to a stimulus in psychology and philosophy.
Biomenoun: A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat defined by climate and soil.
Cognitionnoun: The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
Epistemologicaladjective: Relating to epistemology, the theory of knowledge, its methods, validity, and scope.
Inferentialadjective: Characterized by or derived from deduction, reasoning from premises, or drawing conclusions from evidence.
Ontologynoun: The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being, reality, and what kinds of entities can be said to exist.
Phenomenologynoun: The philosophical approach that concentrates on the study of conscious experience and appearances as experienced from the first-person point of view.
Reciprocitynoun: The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit; mutual dependence or action and reaction between entities.
Reductionismnoun: The practice of analyzing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents.
Somaticadjective: Relating to the physical body, especially as distinct from the mind, psyche, or purely intellectual faculties.
Venomousadjective: Capable of injecting venom through a bite or sting; highly toxic or characterized by malice.