possible

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin possibilis (“possible”), from Latin posse (“to be able”); see power.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɒsᵻbl̩/, SAMPA: /"pQsI\bl=/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈpɑsəbl̩/, SAMPA: /"pAs@bl=/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pos‧si‧ble

Adjective

possible (comparative more possible, superlative most possible)

1. (usually not comparable) Able but not certain to happen; not impossible.

   Rain tomorrow is possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

   It's not just possible, it's probable.

2. (comparable) Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
   • 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume 4, page 438:

     And success in minor degree, in the sense in which he uses the term "success," is only somewhat more possible than success in winning the White House chair.

   • 1993 September 10, Lee Michael Katz, “Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals”, page 2A:

     Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud.

3. Being considered, e.g. for a position.

   Jones and Smith are both possible for the opening in sales.

Antonyms

• impossible

Derived terms

• as much as possible
• ASAP (as soon as possible)
• possibly

Related terms

• possibility
• potence
• potency
• potent
• potentate
• potential
• potentiality

Translations

able but not certain to happen

Arabic: ممكن (ar) (múmkin) Armenian: հնարավոր (hy) (hnaravor) Catalan: possible (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 可能 (zh) (kěnéng) Croatian: mȍgūć (hr) Czech: možný (cs) m. Dutch: mogelijk (nl) Esperanto: ebla (eo) Fijian: rawa (fj) Finnish: mahdollinen (fi) French: possible (fr) German: möglich (de) Hindi: संभव (hi) (sambhav), मुमकिन (hi) (mumkin) Hungarian: lehetséges (hu) Icelandic: hægur (is), mögulegur (is) Interlingua: possibile (ia)

Italian: possibile (it) Japanese: 可能な (ja) (かのうな, kanō-na) Korean: 가능한 (ko) (ganeung-han) Lojban: cumki (jbo) Luxembourgish: méiglech (lb) Persian: ممکن (fa) (momken) Polish: możliwy (pl) Portuguese: possível (pt) Romanian: posibil (ro) Russian: возможный (ru) (vozmóžnyj) Spanish: posible (es) Swedish: möjlig (sv) Turkish: olası (tr) Urdu: ممکن (ur) (mumkin) Volapük: mögik (vo) Walloon: possibe (wa)

capable of being done/achieved, feasible

Catalan: possible (ca) Croatian: izvòdljiv (hr), izvòdiv (hr), ostvàrljiv (hr) Dutch: mogelijk, doenbaar, doenlijk, haalbaar, te doen, overwogen

Esperanto: ebla (eo) Interlingua: possibile (ia) Spanish: posible (es)

being considered, e.g. for a position

Dutch: mogelijk (nl), denkbaar (nl)

Russian: подходящий (ru) (podxodjáščij)

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

Bulgarian: възможно Esperanto: ebla French: #French#possible Greek: πιθανός (pithanós) m., ενδεχόμενος (enðexómenos) m., δυνατός (ðinatós) m., μπορετός (boretós) m. [1, (2, 3)], προσιτός (prositós) m., βολετός (voletós) m., εφικτός (efiktós) m., κατορθωτός (katorthotós) m. (3)

Ido: posibla Indonesian: mungkin Interlingua: possibile Italian: possibile m. and f. (1, 2 ,3) Kurdish: gengaz, mimkin, pêkan Swedish: möjlig Turkish: mümkün

See also

• probable

Noun

possible (plural possibles)

1. A possible one
2. (colloquial, rare) A possible choice, notably someone being considered for a position.

   Jones is a possible for the new opening in sales.

3. (rare) A particular event that may happen.

Synonyms

• possibility
• option

Antonyms

• impossible
• no-go

Translations

a possible one

Dutch: mogelijke (nl) n., mogelijkheid (nl)

a possible choice

Dutch: mogelijke (nl) n., mogelijkheid (nl), mogelijke kandidaat m.

a particular event that may happen

Dutch: mogelijkheid (nl)

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

French: possible m.

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: sense · ten · beautiful · #419: possible · mark · followed · fear

External links

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

Anagrams

• bespoils

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Catalan

Adjective

possible m. and f. (plural possibles)

1. possible

Antonyms

• impossible

Derived terms

• possibilitat
• possiblement

---

French

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /pɔ.sibl/, SAMPA: /pO.sibl/

Adjective

possible (epicene, plural possibles)

1. possible

Related terms

• possibilité
• possiblement

Noun

possible m. (plural possibles)

1. The possible, feasible, what can be done, achieved etc.

   J'ai fait mon possible pour votre fils, mais sans discipline il ne s'efforce pas à plain

   I've done what I can for you son, but without discipline he won't put in full effort