Showing results for "enabling"

• present participle of enable.

enabling

American  

[en-ey-bling] / ɛnˈeɪ blɪŋ /

adjective

Law.

1. conferring additional legal powers or capacities, especially by removing a barrier to action, suspending required permission, or relaxing oversight: enabling power.

   an enabling act;

   enabling power.

---

Etymology

Origin of enabling

First recorded in 1670–80; enable + -ing ²

Explanation

Enabling is a term used for laws that confer legal powers to someone or something. An enabling act makes it possible for authorities to take action. One meaning of the verb enable is "to provide with legal powers," so the adjective formed by adding -ing gets used to describe legislation that has that empowering effect. When new American states were formed out of frontier territories, they could either organize statehood themselves, or they could be admitted into the Union through an "enabling act" of Congress.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enabling

He said his firefighters have "very specialist skills" to tackle wildfires with military assistance enabling him to "focus all of that in the right place".

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Their conversation explores characters who hide their true nature behind carefully constructed personas, the role of technology in enabling obsession and revenge, and the social rituals that define contemporary London.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

Zuckerberg said in an Instagram video Monday that his company would open the weights for its latest AI model, enabling it to be downloaded by the public.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

“Maddie’s Secret” does an impressive job of highlighting the dangers of this kind of enabling.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

Eventually, people were so smart that they were able to decipher nature’s secrets, enabling them to tame sheep and cultivate wheat.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• permissive