legally responsible: You are liable for the damage caused by your action.
2.
subject or susceptible: to be liable to heart disease.
3.
likely or apt: He's liable to get angry.
Origin: 1535–45; < AF li(er) to bind (< L ligāre) + -able
Synonyms: 1.obliged, accountable.
Usage note: Liable is often interchangeable with likely in constructions with a following infinitive where the sense is that of probability: The Sox are liable (or likely) to sweep the Series. Some usage guides, however, say that liable can be used only in contexts in which the outcome is undesirable: The picnic is liable to be spoiled by rain. This use occurs often in formal writing but not to the exclusion of use in contexts in which the outcome is desirable: The drop in unemployment is liable to stimulate the economy. Apt may also be used in place of liable or likely in all the foregoing examples. See also apt, likely.
1542, "bound or obliged by law," from Anglo-Fr. *liable, from O.Fr. lier "to bind," from L. ligare "to bind, to tie" (see ligament). General sense of "exposed to" (something undesirable) is from 1593. Incorrect use for "likely" is attested from 1886. Liability "condition of being liable" is from 1794; meaning "thing for which one is liable" is first attested 1842.
Main Entry: li·a·ble Pronunciation: 'lI-&-b&l Function: adjective Etymology: ultimately from Old French lier to bind, from Latin ligare 1: answerable according to law : bound or obligated according to law or equity liable as an accomplice to the crime of another —W. Railroad LaFave and A. W. Scott, Junior> liable for succession taxes —Commissioner of Revenue Services v. Estate of Culpepper, 493 Atlantic Reporter, Second Series 297 (1985)> 2 a: being in a position to incur —used with to <liable to a fire> liable to duties> b: subject or amenable according to law
[lahy-uh-buh
l] 