The German word for sustainability, Nachhaltigkeit, arose (according to Wiktionary) in the 18th century. Ngrams shows this. I was wondering if the concept of sustainability did not exist before the 1980s? At least in English science, wasn't there a technical term, phrase, whatever to describe this problem?
Does anyone know if there were more common terms/technical phrases and when they arised the first time in English science/books? I need some keywords for a historical search.
Best Answer
The Online Etymology Dictionary says sustainability is from 1972, though its root words are much older.
An article by Nathan Thanki called Sustainable: a philological investigation gives some background, here's an excerpt that neatly links sustainability with Nachhaltigkeit:
Edit: The 1972 date is surprisingly late, here are some antecedents from 1906 and 1907.