able
/ˈeɪ.bl̩/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.43 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
adj
Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
adj
Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
Example Sentences
- "She is able to lift the box without assistance."
- "In a democratic world you'd be able to say what you thought wherever you were."
- "I'll see you as soon as I'm able."
- "With that obstacle removed, I am now able to proceed with my plan."
- "The chairman was also an able sailor."
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Proto-Indo-European *-elis Proto-Italic *-elis Latin -ilis Latin habilis Old French ablebor. Middle English able English able 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”). Doublet of habile.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈeɪ.bl̩/
- British English: /ˈeɪ.bl̩/
Usage
- Obsolete
- Transitive verb
- Uncountable
- American usage