capability

[ key-puh-bil-i-tee ]

/ ˌkeɪ pəˈbɪl ɪ ti /

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See synonyms for: capability / capabilities on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ca·pa·bil·i·ties.

the quality of being capable; capacity; ability: His capability was unquestionable.

the ability to undergo or be affected by a given treatment or action: the capability of glass in resisting heat.

Usually capabilities. qualities, abilities, features, etc., that can be used or developed; potential: Though dilapidated, the house has great capabilities.

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Origin of capability

1580–90; (<Middle French capabilité) <Late Latin capābili(s) capable + -ty²

OTHER WORDS FROM capability

o·ver·ca·pa·bil·i·ty, noun, plural o·ver·ca·pa·bil·i·ties.su·per·ca·pa·bil·i·ty, noun, plural su·per·ca·pa·bil·i·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use capability in a sentence

Men and women who become infertile as a result of chemotherapy could also regain their reproductive capabilities.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Its adaptability and breeding capabilities ensured that it would be selected for mass production on an unimaginable scale.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Solaire has set up charging capabilities at a project it built at a yacht club in Massachusetts, for example.
Paved Paradise|The Daily Beast|September 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In short, we would make it clear to the world and the potential recruits that ISIS has fatally overstepped its capabilities.
Airstrikes Against ISIS Are Tactics. Here's a Strategy|Daniel L. Davis|September 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Nor do we have significant intelligence capabilities on the ground in Syria.
Why Airstrikes in Syria Won't Work|Rep. Adam Schiff|September 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A woman with such capabilities would be wasted in the rle of a mere countess—but as the wife of an aspiring Liberal statesman!
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
But it was Austerlitz which taught the students of war the true capabilities of this rising officer.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
The two versions of this fable are also instances of the relative capabilities of the French and the English four-stress lines.
Aesop Dress'd|Bernard Mandeville
There are many such, to whom have been given great capabilities; one only is wanting—courage.
Black Diamonds|Mr Jkai
What would not English taste have effected with the capabilities of Rambouillet?
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808|Lt-Col. Pinkney

British Dictionary definitions for capability

capability

/ (ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

the quality of being capable; ability

the quality of being susceptible to the use or treatment indicatedthe capability of a metal to be fused

(usually plural) a characteristic that may be developed; potential aptitude

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

capability

Origin of capability

OTHER WORDS FROM capability

Words related to capability

How to use capability in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for capability