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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

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- )

Compare meaning

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

• capability vs. ability

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

In Syria, 162,500 vulnerable IDPs and returned refugees will not receive initial financial assistance unless funding is received quickly, reducing their ability to rebuild their lives, the agency said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

“Plastic soul,” then, becomes a conceptual shorthand for The Beatles’ chameleonic ability to absorb a genre’s core qualities and refashion it into something distinctly their own.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

After the changes, nurses reported an improved ability to respond to alarms appropriately.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Previous research has associated metabolites produced during protein fermentation with effects on the brain, including anxiety and reduced ability to concentrate.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

Madame Ionesco was still aglow with pride about her ability to summon Edward Ashton back from the dead.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Investors had previously been concerned with Meta’s abilities to build a differentiated AI product, Bank of America’s Justin Post believes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

The forebrain supports many of the abilities people most closely associate with complex thought, including language, consciousness and abstract reasoning.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

Australia is considering banning the use of smart glasses with camera recording abilities in government offices, as privacy fears over the technology grow.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Such abilities are essential to confronting the world’s threats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

It was the king of Syracuse who asked Archimedes to determine whether his crown was pure gold or had been mixed with lead, a task beyond the abilities of all the scientists at the time.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

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