Dictionary
a•ble
Pronunciation: (ā'bul), [key]
—adj., a•bler, a•blest,
—n.
—
adj.
1. having necessary power, skill, resources, or qualifications; qualified:
able to lift a two-hundred-pound weight; able to write music; able to travel widely; able to vote.
2. having unusual or superior intelligence, skill, etc.:
an able leader.
3. showing talent, skill, or knowledge:
an able speech.
4. legally empowered, qualified, or authorized.
—
n.
(
usually cap.) a code word formerly used in communications to represent the letter
A.-able
a suffix meaning “capable of, susceptible of, fit for, tending to, given to,” associated in meaning with the word
able, occurring in loanwords from Latin (
laudable); used in English as a highly productive suffix to form adjectives by addition to stems of any origin (
teachable; photographable).
Also,-ble,-ible.Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.