possibility

English

Etymology

From Middle English possibilite, from Old French possibilité, from Late Latin possibilitas (“possibility”), from Latin possibilis (“possible”); see possible.

Pronunciation

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Noun

possibility (plural possibilities)

1. The quality of being possible.
2. A thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
3. An option or choice, usually used in context with future events.

Synonyms

• option
• choice
• contingency
• See also Wikisaurus:option

Antonyms

• impossibility

Derived terms

• logical possibility
• possibility theory

Related terms

• impossibility
• possible
• potence
• potency
• potent
• potentate
• potential
• potentiality
• power

Translations

quality of being possible

• Albanian: mundësi (sq)
• Arabic: احتمال (ar) (iħtimāl) m
• Chinese: 可能性 (kěnéng xìng)
• Czech: možnost (cs) f
• Danish: mulighed (da) c
• Dutch: mogelijkheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: eblo (eo), ebleco (eo)
• Finnish: mahdollisuus (fi)
• French: possibilité (fr) f
• German: Möglichkeit (de) f
• Greek: δυνατότητα (el) f (dynatótita)
• Hungarian: lehetőség (hu)
• Interlingua: possibilitate (ia)
• Italian: possibilità (it) f
• Japanese: 可能性 (ja) (かのうせい, kanō sei)

• Jèrriais: pôssibilité f
• Korean: 가능성 (ko) (ganeungseong)
• Lithuanian: galimybė (lt) f
• Lojban: ka cumki (jbo)
• Maori: āheitanga (mi)
• Norwegian: mulighet (no) c
• Persian: امکان (fa) (emkân)
• Polish: możliwość (pl) f
• Portuguese: possibilidade (pt) f
• Romanian: posibil (ro) n, posibilitate (ro) f
• Russian: возможность (ru) (vozmóžnost’) f 
• Serbo-Croatian: mogúćnōst (sh) f
• Spanish: posibilidad (es) f
• Swedish: möjlighet (sv) c
• Volapük: mög (vo), mögod (vo)

a thing possible

• Catalan: possibilitat (ca) f
• Lojban: cumki (jbo)

• Spanish: posibilidad (es) f

option

• Catalan: possibilitat (ca) f

• Spanish: posibilidad (es) f

External links

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