adjective
- capable of living.
- Physiology.
- physically fitted to live.
- (of a fetus) having reached such a stage of development as to be capable of living, under normal conditions, outside the uterus.
- Botany. able to live and grow.
- vivid; real; stimulating, as to the intellect, imagination, or senses: a period of history that few teachers can make viable for students.
- practicable; workable: a viable alternative.
- having the ability to grow, expand, develop, etc.: a new and viable country.
adjective
- capable of becoming actual, useful, etc; practicablea viable proposition
- (of seeds, eggs, etc) capable of normal growth and development
- (of a fetus) having reached a stage of development at which further development can occur independently of the mother
1828, from French viable “capable of life” (1530s), from vie “life” (from Latin vita “life;” see vital) + -able. Originally of newborn infants; generalized sense is first recorded 1848. Related: Viably; viability.
adj.
- Capable of living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions.
- Capable of living outside the uterus. Used of a fetus or newborn.