Habile - Definitions from Dictionary.com

3 results for: Habile

Browse Nearby Entries

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

hab·ile

Audio Help [hab-il] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

skillful; dexterous; adroit.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME habyll < L habilis handy, apt; see able

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Habile

To learn more about Habile visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

hab·ile Audio Help (hāb'ĭl) Pronunciation Key
adj. Generally able or adroit; handy.

[Middle English habil, from Old French habile, from Latin habilis, from habēre, to handle; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Habile

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.

Browse Nearby Entries: