enable

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Etymology

en- +‎ able

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪbəl

Verb

Wikipedia

enable (third-person singular simple present enables, present participle enabling, simple past and past participle enabled)

1. To give strength or ability to; to make firm and strong.
   • (Can we date this quote?), King James Bible, "1 Tim. i. 12"

     Who hath enabled me.

2. To make able (to do, or to be, something); to confer sufficient power upon; to furnish with means, opportunities, and the like; to render competent for; to empower; to endow.
   • 1711, October 13, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, number 195

     Temperance gives Nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor.

3. To allow a way out or excuse for an action.

   His parents enabled him to continue buying drugs.

Derived terms

• enabler
• enablement
• re-enable
• reenable

Translations

to give strength or ability to; to make firm and strong

• Bulgarian: давам възможност (bg) (davam vǎzmožnost)
• German: (jemanden) berechtigen (de)

• Russian: давать возможность (ru) (davátʹ vozmóžnostʹ), уполномочивать (ru) (upolnomóčivatʹ)
• Swedish: ge någon kraft (sv) c

to make able

• Catalan: habilitar (ca)
• Czech: umožnit (cs)
• Dutch: inschakelen (nl), in staat stellen (nl)
• Esperanto: ebligi (eo)
• Finnish: mahdollistaa, tehdä kykeneväksi
• French: activer (fr), autoriser (fr)
• German: aktivieren (de), befähigen (de), einschalten (de), ermöglichen (de), freigeben (de)

• Russian: давать возможность (ru) (davátʹ vozmóžnostʹ), уполномочивать (ru) (upolnomóčivatʹ), активировать (ru) (aktivírovatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir comas do (gd)
• Spanish: habilitar (es)
• Swedish: möjliggöra (sv)

to allow a way out or excuse for an action

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 啟用 (cmn), 启用 (cmn) (qǐyòng)

• Czech: umožnit (cs), aktivovat (cs)
• Dutch: in staat stellen (nl)
• French: permettre (fr)

• German: anordnen (de)
• Russian: активировать (ru) (aktivírovatʹ), включать (ru) (vključátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: thoir cothrom do (gd)
• Swedish: möjliggöra (sv), ursäkta (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: καθιστώ ικανό (el) (kathistó ikanó)

External links

• enable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• enable in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• enable at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• baleen