What does permeable mean?
Word: Permeable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Permeable means letting a liquid or gas pass through it.
Synonyms: porous
Antonyms: watertight
Word origin: Comes from Latin permeare, 'to pass through'.
How do you spell permeable?
Syllables: per - me - a - ble
Tricky part: The e before the a is said like a quick ee, so students often write permiable.
Watch out for: permiable, permable
Memory tip: A window mesh lets air through: keep the me of mesh in the middle of this word.
Permeable in a sentence
Example 1: Terracotta pots are permeable, which helps the roots of a mint plant to breathe.
Example 2: A cell membrane is permeable to water and some other small molecules.
Example 3: Builders laid a permeable pavement so that rain could drain into the ground.
Fun Fact
A frog's skin is permeable, so it can take in water and oxygen straight through its body surface.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) permeible
b) amiable
c) durable
d) viable
Show answer
a) permeible. Like the other three, this word takes the ending able.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
lebemrpae
a) describes metal that rusts in damp air
b) describes a rock too hard to scratch
c) describes soil that rain can soak into
d) describes a liquid that burns easily
Show answer
c) describes soil that rain can soak into. The nine letters spell permeable, and rain soaks through soil of that kind.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with their meanings:
1. permeable 2. soluble 3. transparent a. clear enough to see through b. allowing water to seep in and out c. able to dissolve in a liquid
a) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
c) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
Show answer
b) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Water seeps through permeable things, sugar is soluble, and clean glass is transparent.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
In our science expirement, water drained quickly through the permeable sand but stayed on top of the clay, so we recorded the results in two colums.
a) 2
b) 1
c) 0
d) 3
Show answer
a) 2. Experiment and columns are misspelt; everything else in the sentence is correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A gardener needs a permeable layer at the bottom of a flower bed. Which material should she pick?
a) a steel tray
b) coarse gravel
c) a plastic sheet
d) a sheet of glass
Show answer
b) coarse gravel
2. If a rain jacket is permeable, what will its wearer notice in a long shower?
a) the sleeves become much shorter
b) the zip stops working at once
c) the shirt underneath gets wet
d) the jacket turns a new colour
Show answer
c) the shirt underneath gets wet
