able

English Wikipedia has an article on:

able

Wikipedia

• (obsolete) hable

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪbl̩/,
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪb(ə)l/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (L-Vocalisation) IPA^(key):
• Homophone: Abel
• Rhymes: -eɪbəl

From Middle English able, from Old Northern French able, variant of Old French abile, habile, from Latin habilis (“easily managed, held, or handled; apt; skillful”), from habeō (“have, possess”) +‎ -ibilis.

Broadly ousted the native Old English magan.

able (comparative abler, superlative ablest)

1. Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.

   She is able to lift the box without assistance.

2. Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.

   I'll see you as soon as I'm able.

   With that obstacle removed, I am now able to proceed with my plan.

3. Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.

   The chairman was also an able sailor.

   • 1625, Francis , “Of Youth and Age. XLII.”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, pages 247–248:

     Natures that haue much Heat, and great and violent deſires and Perturbations, are not ripe for Action, till they haue paſſed the Meridian of their yeares: As it was with Iulius Cæſar, and Septimius Seuerus. […] And yet he [Septimus Severus] was the Ableſt Emperour, almoſt, of all the Liſt.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XXXVII, page 57:

     Urania speaks with darken’d brow:
     ⁠‘Thou pratest here where thou art least;
     ⁠This faith has many a purer priest,
     And many an abler voice than thou: […] ’

4. (law) Legally qualified or competent.

   He is able to practice law in six states.

5. (nautical) Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
6. (obsolete, dialectal) Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.

   After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.

7. (obsolete) Easy to use.
   • 1710, Thomas Betterton, The life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, the late eminent tragedian.:

     As the hands are the most habil parts of the body...

8. (obsolete) Suitable; competent.
   • 2006, Jon L. Wakelyn, America's Founding Charters: Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance, volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 212:

     […] and for every able man servant that he or she shall carry or send armed and provided as aforesaid, ninety acres of land of like measure.

9. (obsolete, dialectal) Liable to.
10. (obsolete) Rich; well-to-do.

    He was born to an able family.

• In standard English, one is "able to do something". In some older texts representing various dialects, particularly Irish English, or black speech, "able for do something" is found instead, and in some Caribbean dialects "able with" is sometimes found.^[1][2]

• See also Thesaurus:skillful

• -able, -ible

From Middle English ablen, from Middle English able (adjective).^[3]

able (third-person singular simple present ables, present participle abling, simple past and past participle abled)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make ready.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To make capable; to enable.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To dress.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To vouch for; to guarantee.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     None does offend, none....I’ll able ’em.

• abled

From the first letter of the word. Suggested in the 1916 United States Army Signal Book to distinguish the letter when communicating via telephone,^[4] and later adopted in other radio and telephone signal standards.

able (uncountable)

1. (military) The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

• Most glosses: Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “able”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 5.

• Abel, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea

• Audio:

  (file)

able m (plural ables)

1. a vernacular name of the common bleak (usually called ablette)
2. a vernacular name of the sunbleak or moderlieschen, also called able de Heckel
3. (rare) a vernacular name of any of some other related fishes in the genus Alburnus (Cyprinidae)

• “able”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

• Abel, Bâle, béal, bêla

• hable

From Old French able, habile, from Latin habilis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːbəl/

able

1. capable, expert, qualified, skilful, competent.

• English: able
• Scots: able, abel, awbel, yible
• → Welsh: abl

• “āble, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

• abile
• abille
• habile

From Latin habilis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈablə/

able m (oblique and nominative feminine singular able)

1. able; capable

• French: habile
  • → Romanian: abil
• → Middle Dutch: abel
  • Dutch: abel
• → Middle English: able, habil
  • English: able, habile
    • → Welsh: abl

From Middle English able, from Old French able, habile, from Latin habilis.

• abel, awbel, yible

• IPA^(key): /ebl/
• (Southern Scots) IPA^(key): /jɪbl/
• (Northern Scots) IPA^(key): /ɑːbl/

able (superlative ablest)

1. (obsolete) well-to-do, rich
2. substantial
3. physically fit, strong
4. shrewd, cute, clever

• “able, adj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

able

1. Alternative form of aible (“perhaps”)

• “able, adv.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.