able

[ˈeɪ̯.bw]UK/ˈeɪ.bl̩/

able adjective: having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task. Also the present participle and gerund of can.

Adjective

able (comparative abler, superlative ablest)

Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
- She is able to lift the box without assistance.
Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
- In a democratic world you'd be able to say what you thought wherever you were.
- I'll see you as soon as I'm able.
Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
- The chairman was also an able sailor.
- Natures that haue much Heat, and great and violent deſires and Perturbations, are not ripe for Action, till they haue paſſed the Meridian of their yeares: As it was with Iulius Cæſar, and Septimius Seuerus. […] And yet he [Septimus Severus] was the Ableſt Emperour, almoſt, of all the Liſt.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age. XLII.”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, pages 247–248
Legally qualified or competent.
- He is able to practice law in six states.
Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
(dialectal, obsolete) Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
- After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able.
(obsolete) Easy to use.
- As the hands are the most habil parts of the body...1710, Thomas Betterton, The life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, the late eminent tragedian.
(obsolete) Suitable; competent.
- […] and for every able man servant that he or she shall carry or send armed and provided as aforesaid, ninety acres of land of like measure.2006, Jon L. Wakelyn, America's Founding Charters: Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance, volume 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, page 212
(dialectal, obsolete) Liable to.
(obsolete) Rich; well-to-do.
- He was born to an able family.

Verb

able (third-person singular simple present ables, present participle abling, simple past and past participle abled)

(obsolete, transitive) To make ready.
(obsolete, transitive) To make capable; to enable.
(obsolete, transitive) To dress.
(obsolete, transitive) To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
(obsolete, transitive) To vouch for; to guarantee.
- None does offend, none....I’ll able ’em.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Noun (1)

able (uncountable)

The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

Noun (2) capitalized: Able

Able

(World War II era, joint US/RAF) radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter A.

Synonyms:

Alfa

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Able

Able (plural Ables)

A surname.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: ABLE

ABLE

(US, abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Achieving a Better Life Experience, a savings account for people with disabilities.
- This provision permanently allows designated beneficiaries who make qualified contributions to their ABLE account to qualify for the Saver’s Credit.2025 May, “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill”, in United States House Committee on Ways & Means, page 11

Also used as

able is also the present participle and gerund of can.

able meaning in Hindi, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Arabic

able in Malayalam

skillful: കഴിവുള്ള kaḻivuḷḷa
permitted to: കഴിയുന്ന kaḻiyunna, പറ്റുന്ന paṟṟunna
legally qualified: കഴിയുന്ന kaḻiyunna

able in Arabic

skillful: قَادِر qādir, قَدِير qadīr, بَارِع bāriʕ, مَاهِر māhir
permitted to: قَادِر qādir

More languagesFewer languages

able in Malay: boleh, dapat
able in Indonesian: sanggup, boleh
able in Persian: توانستن tavânestan
able in Vietnamese: có năng lực, có tài, có phép, có đủ thẩm quyền
able in Myanmar: စွမ်း cwam:

Examples of able in a sentence

You may be able to barter for some of the items you need at the local market.
If we network his machine to the server, he will be able to see all the files.
For financial reasons, we're not going to be able to continue to fund this program.

All 40 example sentences with able

Synonyms of able

Alfa

Forms of able

Adjective
comparative	abler
superlative	ablest
alternative form (obsolete)	hable
Verb
third-person singular present	ables
present participle	abling
past participle	abled
past	abled
Proper noun
plural	Ables

Origin of able

From Middle English able, from Old Northern French able, variant of Old French abile, habile, from Latin habilis (“easily managed, held, or handled; apt; skillful”). Doublet of habile.

From Middle English ablen, from Middle English able (adjective).

From the first letter of the word. Suggested in the 1916 United States Army Signal Book to distinguish the letter when communicating via telephone, and later adopted in other radio and telephone signal standards.

Words formed from able

Phrases with able

Words that rhyme with able

16 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about able

What does able mean?: Able means having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
What is able in Hindi?: Able in Hindi is समर्थ (samarth). See Able meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is able?: Able can be an adjective, a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce able?: Able is pronounced /ˈeɪ.bl̩/ (UK).

Words near able in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: able (page history and authors); Able (page history and authors); ABLE (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-able.ogg.

Cite this entry: “able.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/able. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.