capable

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

Borrowed from Middle French capable, from Late Latin capābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪpəbl̩/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

capable (comparative more capable, superlative most capable)

1. Able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.

   She is capable and efficient.

   He does not need help; he is capable of eating on his own.

   As everyone knew, he was capable of violence when roused.

   That fact is not capable of proof.

2. (obsolete) Of sufficient capacity or size for holding, containing, receiving or taking in; accessible to. Construed with of, for or an infinitive.
   • 1672, Lord Herbert, The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth, page 594:

     The place chosen was the cathedral church, capable of about 400 persons.

   • 1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (Works 10.479):

     He has begun a road capable of a wheel-carriage.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:skillful

Antonyms

• incapable

Derived terms

• capability (noun)

Translations

able and efficient

• Arabic: قَادِر (ar) (qādir)
• Aromanian: putut
• Basque: gai
• Belarusian: здо́льны m (zdólʹny)
• Bulgarian: способен (bg) (sposoben)
• Burmese: စွမ်း (my) (cwam:)
• Catalan: capaç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 能幹／能干 (zh) (nénggàn), 能干 (zh) (nénggàn), 有能力 (yǒu nénglì)

• Czech: schopný (cs)
• Dutch: bekwaam (nl)
• Esperanto: kapabla
• Finnish: kyvykäs (fi), kykenevä (fi)
• French: capable (fr)
• German: fähig (de)
• Greek: ικανός (el) m (ikanós)
• Ido: kapabla (io)
• Interlingua: capabile
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: cumasach
• Italian: capace (it) m or f
• Japanese: 有能 (yūnō)
• Khmer: ជំនាញ (km) (cumniəñ)
• Latin: potis
• Latvian: spējīgs
• Macedonian: способен (sposoben)
• Manx: jargal
• Norman: habil'ye
• Portuguese: capaz (pt)
• Quechua: kuti (qu)
• Romanian: capabil (ro) m, capabilă f
• Russian: спосо́бный (ru) (sposóbnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: comasach
• Serbo-Croatian: spȍsoban (sh)
• Slovene: zmožen m
• Spanish: capaz (es)
• Swedish: kapabel (sv)
• Turkish: kapasiteli, kapasitede

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “capable”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• pacable

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French

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin capabilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.pabl/

• audio:

  (file)

Adjective

capable (plural capables)

1. able, capable

See also

• cap’

Further reading

• “capable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.