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• ability
  ability

  noun

  power or capacity to do or act physically, mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.
• -ability
  -ability

  a combination of -able and -ity, found on nouns corresponding to adjectives ending in -able:

ability

¹ American  

[uh-bil-i-tee] / əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

• abilities
  plural

1. 

   power or capacity to do or act physically, mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.

   Synonyms:

   dexterity, expertness, proficiency, capability

2. competence in an activity or occupation because of one's skill, training, or other qualification.

   the ability to sing well.

3. abilities, talents; special skills or aptitudes.

   Composing music is beyond his abilities.

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-ability ² American  

1. a combination of -able and -ity, found on nouns corresponding to adjectives ending in -able:

   capability.

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ability British  

/ əˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. possession of the qualities required to do something; necessary skill, competence, or power

   the ability to cope with a problem

2. considerable proficiency; natural capability

   a man of ability

3. (plural) special talents

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Synonym Usage

Ability, faculty, talent denote qualifications or powers. Ability is a general word for power, native or acquired, enabling one to do things well: a person of great ability; ability in mathematics. Faculty denotes a natural ability for a particular kind of action: a faculty of saying what he means. Talent is often used to mean a native ability or aptitude in a special field: a talent for music or art.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subability
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• abilities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ability¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (h)abilite, from Middle French, from Latin habilitās “aptitude,” equivalent to habili(s) “handy” ( see able) + -tās -ty ²; replacing Middle English ablete, from Old French, from Latin, as above

Origin of -ability²

Middle English -abilite, from French -abilité, from Latin -ābilitās (inflectional stem -ābilitāt- )

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Compare meaning

How does ability compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• capability vs. ability

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Explanation

Ability is skill or talent. You might have the ability to blow bubbles, or sing in a falsetto, or dance the waltz. Or, just maybe, you have the ability to do all three things at once. Impressive! From the Old French ablate "expert at handling (something)," and that from the Latin habilitatem, "aptitude," comes the English ability, a noun indicating the power to act, perform, or accomplish. Capacity is similar in meaning to ability, but note that people have a capacity for doing something, and an ability to do something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ability abilities

So there is some scepticism about Berisha's ability to mastermind the trouble, though he may well seek to capitalise on it.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Shares of CoreWeave fell 12% and are down more than 50% from their highs earlier this year as concerns about the cloud-computing company’s ability to pay down debt lingered.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Men can contribute to babies well into their 80s—yes, sperm quality declines but not that much—while the ability to get pregnant is pretty much capped at age 45.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

The enzyme can digest particular polyesters and biodegradable plastics, but it has another unexpected ability: it can also break down penicillin, suggesting a possible connection to antibiotic resistance.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Is it our ability to walk on two feet?

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

Geese were always an odd band to pin to anxieties about fabricated culture — if a label had resources and abilities to manufacture stars, why not do it for a 100x-hyperscaling pop act instead?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

AI is surpassing human abilities in pursuits from mathematics to computer programming, while threatening to alter or even eradicate many jobs.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

However, exercise made an important difference in how well people maintained their abilities.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

AGI matches or exceeds human abilities across a specific cognitive task, according to the bank, whereas superintelligence would surpass human performance across every intellectual domain.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

As time passed, word grew of Maeve’s abilities.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

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Related Words

• capability
• capacity
• competence
• intelligence
• qualification
• skill
• strength
• talent
• understanding

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