Able Meaning
/ˈeɪ.bl̩/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHaving the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
adjFree from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
Sentence Examples
Liberty consists of being able to make everything as harmless as possible.
The witnesses were able to refute the false testimony of the suspect.
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Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
After months of training, she felt ____ to run a full marathon without stopping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Will you be ____ to help me with the move next Saturday?.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age. XLII.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, pages 247–248:
"Urania speaks with darken’d brow:
‘Thou pratest here where thou art least;
This faith has many a purer priest,
And many an abler voice than thou: […]’"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 57:
"As the hands are the most habil parts of the body..."
— 1710, Thomas Betterton, The life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, the late eminent tragedian.:
"[…] and for every able man servant that he or she shall carry or send armed and provided as aforesaid, ninety acres of land of like measure."
— 2006, Jon L. Wakelyn, America's Founding Charters: Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance, volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 212:
"None does offend, none....I’ll able ’em."
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After months of training, she felt ____ to run a full marathon without stopping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Will you be ____ to help me with the move next Saturday?.