pervious
Meaning
Allowing water or liquid to pass through; permeable.
Accessible or open to reason, ideas, or influence.
Structure
Usage
The soil in this area is sandy and pervious, allowing rainwater to recharge the aquifer quickly.
A good leader should be pervious to constructive criticism from their team.
The new paving material is designed to be pervious, reducing surface runoff and flooding.
Etymology
The word 'pervious' has a clear and logical journey from Latin to English. It derives from the Latin pervius, meaning "that may be passed through," which is itself a compound of per- ("through") and via ("way, road"). The literal sense of "having a way through" was applied in English first to physical materials, describing those that allow passage, as of liquids. Over time, this concrete meaning was extended metaphorically to the abstract realm, describing a mind or person that is open and accessible to ideas, arguments, or influences, thus completing the path from a description of a physical passage to one of intellectual receptivity.
Analysis
- per: Latin origin, meaning "through". - vi: From Latin via, meaning "way, road, path". - ous: English adjective-forming suffix, from Latin -osus, meaning "full of, characterized by".