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probable
5 dictionary results for: Probable
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
prob·a·ble       [prob-uh-buhl] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.likely to occur or prove true: He foresaw a probable business loss. He is the probable writer of the article.
2.having more evidence for than against, or evidence that inclines the mind to belief but leaves some room for doubt.
3.affording ground for belief.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L probābilis likely, lit., capable of standing a test, equiv. to probā(re) to test (see probe) + -bilis -ble]
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
prob·a·ble       (prŏb'ə-bəl)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Likely to happen or to be true: War seemed probable in 1938. The home team, far ahead, is the probable winner.
  2. Likely but uncertain; plausible.
  3. Theology Of or relating to opinions and actions in ethics and morals for whose lawfulness intrinsic reasons or extrinsic authority may be adduced.


[Middle English, plausible, from Old French, from Latin probābilis, from probāre, to prove; see prove.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
probable 
1387, from O.Fr. probable (14c.), from L. probabilis "provable," from probare "to try, to test" (see prove). Probable cause as a legal term is attested from 1676. Probably is attested from 1535; probability from 1551.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
probable

adjective
1. likely but not certain to be or become true or real; "a likely result"; "he foresaw a probable loss" [ant: improbable
2. apparently destined; "the probable consequences of going ahead with the scheme" 

noun
1. an applicant likely to be chosen 

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

Probable

Prob"a*ble\, a. [L. probabilis, fr. probare to try, approve, prove: cf. F. probable. See Prove, and cf. Provable.]

1. Capable of being proved. [Obs.]

2. Having more evidence for than against; supported by evidence which inclines the mind to believe, but leaves some room for doubt; likely.

That is accounted probable which has better arguments producible for it than can be brought against it. --South.

I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. --Bp. Wilkins.

3. Rendering probable; supporting, or giving ground for, belief, but not demonstrating; as, probable evidence; probable presumption. --Blackstone.

Probable cause (Law), a reasonable ground of presumption that a charge is, or my be, well founded.

Probable error (of an observation, or of the mean of a number), that within which, taken positively and negatively, there is an even chance that the real error shall lie. Thus, if 3[sec] is the probable error in a given case, the chances that the real error is greater than 3[sec] are equal to the chances that it is less. The probable error is computed from the observations made, and is used to express their degree of accuracy.

The probable, that which is within the bounds of probability; that which is not unnatural or preternatural; -- opposed to the marvelous.

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