Able definition | Dictionary.com

a⋅ble

[ey-buh

adjective, a⋅bler, a⋅blest, noun

–adjective

1.	having necessary power, skill, resources, or qualifications; qualified: able to lift a two-hundred-pound weight; able to write music; able to travel widely; able to vote.

2.	having unusual or superior intelligence, skill, etc.: an able leader.

3.	showing talent, skill, or knowledge: an able speech.

4.	legally empowered, qualified, or authorized.

–noun

5.	(usually initial capital letter) a code word formerly used in communications to represent the letter A.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME < MF < L habilis handy, equiv. to hab(ēre) to have, hold + -ilis -ile

Synonyms:
1. fit, fitted. Able, capable, competent all mean possessing adequate power for doing something. Able implies power equal to effort required: able to finish in time. Capable implies power to meet or fulfill ordinary requirements: a capable worker. Competent suggests power to meet demands in a completely satisfactory manner: a competent nurse. 2. talented; skilled, clever, ingenious. 3. apt.

Antonyms:
1. incompetent.

-able

a suffix meaning “capable of, susceptible of, fit for, tending to, given to,” associated in meaning with the word able, occurring in loanwords from Latin (laudable); used in English as a highly productive suffix to form adjectives by addition to stems of any origin (teachable; photographable).

Also, -ble, -ible.

Origin:
ME < OF < L -ābilis, equiv. to -ā- final vowel of 1st conjugation v. stems + -bilis

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source

Link To Able

a·ble (ā'bəl)

adj. a·bler, a·blest

Having sufficient power or resources to accomplish something: a singer able to reach high notes; a detergent able to remove stains.
Usage Problem Susceptible to action or treatment: The brakes were able to be fixed.
Especially capable or talented.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin habilis, from habēre, to handle; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]
a'bly (ā'blē) adv.

Usage Note: The construction able to takes an infinitive to show the subject's ability to accomplish an action: We were able to get a grant for the project. The new submarine is able to dive twice as fast as the older model. Some people think it should be avoided when the subject does not have an ability, as in sentences with passive constructions involving forms of the verb be: The problem was able to be solved by using a new lab technique. The reasoning here is that since the problem has no ability to accomplish an action, it is not able to do anything, and therefore able to should not be used. Presumably this ban would apply to similar words like capable and to negative words like unable and incapable. In such cases one can usually avoid the problem by using can or could: The problem could be solved.... Keep in mind, however, that passives with get ascribe a more active role to their subjects, and here one can use able to: He was able to get accepted by a top law school.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Able

A"ble\, a. [Comp. Abler; superl. Ablest.] [OF. habile, L. habilis that may be easily held or managed, apt, skillful, fr. habere to have, hold. Cf. Habile and see Habit.]

1. Fit; adapted; suitable. [Obs.]

A many man, to ben an abbot able. --Chaucer.

2. Having sufficient power, strength, force, skill, means, or resources of any kind to accomplish the object; possessed of qualifications rendering competent for some end; competent; qualified; capable; as, an able workman, soldier, seaman, a man able to work; a mind able to reason; a person able to be generous; able to endure pain; able to play on a piano.

3. Specially: Having intellectual qualifications, or strong mental powers; showing ability or skill; talented; clever; powerful; as, the ablest man in the senate; an able speech.

No man wrote abler state papers. --Macaulay.

4. (Law) Legally qualified; possessed of legal competence; as, able to inherit or devise property.

Note:

Able for, is Scotticism. "Hardly able for such a march." --Robertson.

Syn: Competent; qualified; fitted; efficient; effective; capable; skillful; clever; vigorous; powerful.

Able

A"ble\, v. t. [See Able, a.] [Obs.]

1. To make able; to enable; to strengthen. --Chaucer.

2. To vouch for. "I 'll able them." --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

Language Translation for : Able

Spanish: capaz,

German: in der Lage,

Japanese: ～ができる

More Translations »

able

c.1365, from O.Fr. (h)able, from L. habilis "easily handled, apt," verbal adj. from habere "to hold" (see habit). "Easy to be held," hence "fit for a purpose." The silent h- was dropped in Eng. and resisted academic attempts to restore it 16c.-17c., but some derivatives acquired it (e.g. habiliment, habilitate), via Fr. Able-bodied first attested 1622.

"Able-whackets - A popular sea-game with cards, in which the loser is beaten over the palms of the hands with a handkerchief tightly twisted like a rope. Very popular with horny-fisted sailors." [Smyth, "Sailor's Word-Book," 1867]

Main Entry: able
Function: adjective
1 : possessed of needed powers or of needed resources to accomplish an objective <able to perform under the contract>
2 : having freedom from restriction or obligation or from conditions preventing an action <able to vote>
3 : legally qualified : possessed of legal competence <able to inherit property>

ABLE language
A simple language for accountants.
["ABLE, The Accounting Language, Programming and Reference Manual," Evansville Data Proc Center, Evansville, IN, Mar 1975].
[Listed in SIGPLAN Notices 13(11):56 (Nov 1978)].
(1994-11-08)

ABLE
Association for Biology Laboratory Education

Search another word or see Able on Thesaurus | Reference

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Advertise with Us · Link to Us · NASCAR® · Contact Us