stable
Definitions
General English
- noun a
building
for keeping a horse
General Science
- adjective not changing
- adjective referring to a
chemical compound
that does notreact
readily with other chemicals
Agriculture
- noun a building in which horses are kept
Aviation
- adjective referring to an atmosphere in which there is little or no
vertical
movement
Economics
- Of an equilibrium, that the dynamic adjustment away from equilibrium converges to the equilibrium.
- Of an
economic variable
, not subject to large or erratic fluctuations.
Electronics
- Tending to remain in a given position, state,
setting
,mode
, or the like. Also, tending to avoid unwanted variations. For instance, free of unwantedoscillation
. - Tending to return to a former or desired position, state,
setting
,mode
, or the like, after adisplacement
or other change occurs. An example is aspeaker
with properdamping
. - Tending to maintain a given value,
quantity
, intensity,characteristic
, or the like. Said, for instance, of the output of acontrol system
. - Not tending to easily respond to a change, action, stimulus, or variation. Said, for instance, of a
voltage regulator
which maintains the same output despite changes inload resistance
. - A
chemical
substance not tending to easily form part of a chemical reaction. - A
particle
which does not undergoradioactive
decay.
Military
- noun a building used to
accommodate
horses or mules
Origin & History of “stable”
English
has twodistinct
words stable, butboth
come
ultimatelyfrom
thesame
source: the Indo-European base *stā- ‘stand’,ancestor
also
of English stand. The adjective stable (13th c.) comes via Old French estable from Latin stabilis ‘standing firm’,which
has also given English establish, stability (15th c.), and stabilize (19th c.). It was formed from the base *stā-, as was Latin stabulum ‘standing-place’, hence ‘enclosure for animals’, which English acquired via Old French estable as stable (13th c.). The corresponding Germanic formation, also based on *stā-, is stall. A constable is etymologically an ‘officer in charge of stables’.