Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
able. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
able, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
able in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
able you have here. The definition of the word
able will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
able, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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.
Adjective
able (comparative abler, superlative ablest)
- Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
- 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.
I’m only able to visit you when I have other work here.
That cliff is able to be climbed.
- Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
The chairman was also an able sailor.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “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.
- (law) Legally qualified or competent.
He is able to practice law in six states.
- (nautical) Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
- (obsolete, dialectal) Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.
- (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...
- (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.
- (obsolete, dialectal) Liable to.
- (obsolete) Rich; well-to-do.
He was born to an able family.
Usage notes
- 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.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
permitted to
- American Sign Language: A@Sternumhigh-PalmDown-A@Sternumhigh-PalmDown A@Chesthigh-PalmDown-A@Chesthigh-PalmDown
- Arabic: قَادِر (ar) (qādir)
- Egyptian Arabic: قادر m (ʔāderr)
- Armenian: ունակ (hy) (unak), կարող (hy) (karoġ)
- Bulgarian: компетентен (bg) (kompetenten), позволен, в състояние да (pozvolen, v sǎstojanie da)
- Burmese: စွမ်း (my) (cwam:)
- Catalan: capaç (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 能 (zh) (néng), 會/会 (zh) (huì), 可 (zh) (kě)
- Czech: schopný (cs)
- Danish: i stand til, have mulighed for
- Dutch: in staat (om (nl)), de (nl) mogelijkheid (nl) hebben (nl) (om te (nl)), bekwaam (nl)
- Esperanto: (to be able) povi (eo), rajti (eo)
- Estonian: suuteline, võimeline
- Finnish: kykenevä (fi), pystyvä (fi), vapaa (fi)
- French: capable (fr)
- German: imstande (de), fähig (de)
- Greek: δυνάμενος (el) (dynámenos), μπορώ να (boró na), είμαι ικανός να (eímai ikanós na)
- Hebrew: יָכֹל (he) (yachol)
- Hungarian: képes (hu), (in the passive sense) -ható (hu), -hető (hu)
- Irish: ábalta, in ann
- Italian: capace (it)
- Japanese: できる (ja) (dekiru)
- Jingpho: dang di lu ai
- Khmer: អាច (km) (’aac)
- Korean: 할 수 있는 (hal su inneun)
- Latin: potis, potens (la), sanus (la), licens
- Latvian: spējīgs
- Luxembourgish: fäeg, capabel
- Malay: dapat (ms)
- Malayalam: കഴിയുന്ന (kaḻiyunna), പറ്റുന്ന (paṟṟunna)
- Maltese: kapaċi
- Norwegian: i stand
- Persian: توانستن (fa) (tavânestan)
- Polish: móc (pl), mieć możliwość, potrafić (pl)
- Portuguese: possível (pt), permitido (pt)
- Rohingya: fare
- Russian: (please verify) в состоя́нии (v sostojánii) , спосо́бный (ru) (sposóbnyj)
- Slovak: schopný
- Spanish: capaz (es)
- Swedish: kapabel (sv), i stånd att, ha möjlighet att
- Turkish: muktedir (tr)
- Ukrainian: в стані (v stani), здатний (uk) (zdatnyj)
- Uyghur: قابىل (qabil), قادىر (qadir)
- Volapük: fägik (vo)
|
skillful
- Arabic: قَادِر (ar) (qādir), قَدِير (qadīr), بَارِع (ar) (bāriʕ), مَاهِر m (māhir)
- Egyptian Arabic: شاطر m (šāṭer)
- Armenian: ընդունակ (hy) (əndunak), ճարտար (hy) (čartar)
- Belarusian: здо́льны (zdólʹny)
- Bulgarian: способен, умел, годен (sposoben, umel, goden), кадъ́рен (bg) (kadǎ́ren)
- Burmese: စွမ်း (my) (cwam:)
- Catalan: capaç (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 能幹/能干 (zh) (nénggàn), 得力 (zh) (délì)
- Czech: schopný (cs)
- Danish: habil (da), kompetent (da), dygtig (da)
- Dutch: competent (nl), handig (nl), bedreven (nl), kundig (nl)
- Esperanto: lerta
- Finnish: taitava (fi), pystyvä (fi), hyvä (fi)
- French: capable (fr), expérimenté (fr)
- Georgian: მარჯვე (marǯve), უნარიანი (unariani)
- German: fähig (de), tüchtig (de)
- Greek: ικανός (el) (ikanós)
- Hebrew: יכול (he) m (yakhool), מסוגל m (mesugal)
- Hindi: समर्थ (hi) (samarth)
- Hungarian: rátermett (hu), ügyes (hu), tehetséges (hu), jó képességű, hozzáértő (hu)
- Indonesian: sanggup (id)
- Irish: ábalta, in ann
- Italian: abile (it)
- Japanese: 有能 (ja) (yūnō), 腕利き (ja) (udekiki)
- Korean: 능란한 (neungnanhan)
- Latin: potis, potens (la), habilis
- Latvian: izdarīgs, veikls
- Luxembourgish: fäeg, capabel, dichteg
- Macedonian: способен (sposoben)
- Malay: boleh
- Malayalam: കഴിവുള്ള (kaḻivuḷḷa)
- Maltese: kapaċi
- Polish: umiejętny (pl), zręczny (pl), zdolny (pl)
- Portuguese: capaz (pt), hábil (pt)
- Quechua: kuti (qu)
- Romanian: abil (ro), capabil (ro)
- Russian: спосо́бный (ru) (sposóbnyj), уме́лый (ru) (umélyj)
- Sanskrit: समर्थ (sa) (samartha)
- Scottish Gaelic: comasach
- Serbo-Croatian: sposoban (sh), способан, vješt (sh), вјешт, kadar (sh)
- Slovak: schopný
- Spanish: diestro (es), hábil (es), capaz (es)
- Sundanese: kersa
- Swedish: kompetent (sv), skicklig (sv)
- Tocharian B: cämpamo
- Ukrainian: здібний (zdibnyj)
- Volapük: skilik (vo)
- West Frisian: betûft
|
legally qualified
- American Sign Language: A@Sternumhigh-PalmDown-A@Sternumhigh-PalmDown A@Chesthigh-PalmDown-A@Chesthigh-PalmDown
- Bulgarian: компетентен (bg) (kompetenten)
- Catalan: competent
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 有資格/有资格 (yǒu zīgé)
- Czech: způsobilý (cs)
- Dutch: competent (nl), in aanmerking komend, gerechtigd (nl), bevoegd (nl)
- Esperanto: kompetenta (eo)
- Estonian: pädev
- Finnish: pätevä (fi)
- French: habilité (fr)
- German: kompetent (de)
- Greek: αρτιμελής (el) (artimelís), έχων σώας τας φρένας (échon sóas tas frénas)
- Hungarian: jogosult (hu)
- Indonesian: boleh (id)
- Japanese: 有資格の (ゆうしかくの, yūshikaku-no)
- Korean: 유자격의 (yujagyeogui)
- Latin: potis, potens (la)
- Luxembourgish: kompetent, fäeg, dichteg
- Malayalam: കഴിയുന്ന (kaḻiyunna)
- Portuguese: competente (pt)
- Romanian: abilitat m, competent (ro) m
- Russian: компете́нтный (ru) (kompeténtnyj), полнопра́вный (ru) (polnoprávnyj)
- Slovak: kompetentný
- Spanish: competente (es)
- Volapük: duinafägik (vo)
|
Translations to be checked
Etymology 2
From Middle English ablen, from Middle English able (adjective).
Verb
able (third-person singular simple present ables, present participle abling, simple past and past participle abled)
- (transitive, obsolete) To make ready.
- (transitive, obsolete) To make capable; to enable.
- (transitive, obsolete) To dress.
- (transitive, obsolete) To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
- (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.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 3
From the first letter of the word. Suggested in the 1916 United States Army Signal Book to distinguish the letter when communicating via telephone, and later adopted in other radio and telephone signal standards.
Noun
able (uncountable)
- (military) The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 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.
- ^ Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “ABLE”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: , volumes I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, , publisher to the English Dialect Society, ; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC.
- ^ Richard Allsopp, Jeannette Allsopp, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (2003), entry "able"
- ^ Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 , →ISBN), page 4
- ^ United States Army (1916) Signal Book, Conventional telephone signals, page 33
Anagrams
- Abel, Bale, Beal, Blea, Ebla, Elba, albe, bael, bale, beal, blea
French
Pronunciation
Noun
able m (plural ables)
- a vernacular name of the common bleak (usually called ablette)
- a vernacular name of the sunbleak or moderlieschen, also called able de Heckel
- (rare) a vernacular name of any of some other related fishes in the genus Alburnus (Cyprinidae)
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French able, habile, from Latin habilis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
able
- capable, expert, qualified, skilful, competent.
Descendants
References
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin habilis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
able m (oblique and nominative feminine singular able)
- able; capable
Declension
Descendants
Scots
Etymology 1
From Middle English able, from Old French able, habile, from Latin habilis.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Adjective
able (superlative ablest)
- (obsolete) well-to-do, rich
- substantial
- physically fit, strong
- shrewd, cute, clever
References
Etymology 2
Adverb
able
- Alternative form of aible (“perhaps”)
References