able.
Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
Meaning & usage
Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
She is able to lift the box without assistance.
Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
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.
Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
The chairman was also an able sailor.
Legally qualified or competent.
He is able to practice law in six states.
Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.
Easy to use.
Suitable; competent.
Liable to.
Rich; well-to-do.
He was born to an able family.
Where this word comes from
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.
To make ready.
To make capable; to enable.
To dress.
To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
To vouch for; to guarantee.
present participle and gerund of can
I might be able to go.
I have been able to go, since I was seven.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English ablen, from Middle English able (adjective).
The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.
Where this word comes from
From the first letter of the word. Suggested in the 1916 United States Army Signal Book to distinguish the letter when communicating via telephone, and later adopted in other radio and telephone signal standards.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.