enable

[en-ey-buhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR enable ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), en·a·bled, en·a·bling.

to make able; give power, means, competence, or ability to; authorize: This document will enable him to pass through the enemy lines unmolested.

to make possible or easy: Aeronautics enables us to overcome great distances.

to make ready; equip (often used in combination): web-enabled cell phones.

Origin of enable

Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at en-¹, able

Related formsen·a·bler, nounpre·en·a·ble, verb (used with object), pre·en·a·bled, pre·en·a·bling.

Synonyms for enable

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR enable ON THESAURUS.COM

1. empower, qualify, allow, permit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for enables

empower, facilitate, implement, permit, license, prepare, fit, invest, warrant, commission, qualify, let, approve, sanction, ready, endow, condition, accredit, capacitate

Examples from the Web for enables

Contemporary Examples of enables

Plus, it enables smaller minority groups to share their own story on their own terms with millions of people across the country.
Why Muslims Hate Terrorism More
Dean Obeidallah
August 12, 2014
Investigators, on the other hand, have no physical evidence that enables them to begin their work.
Flight 370 Didn’t Disappear: We Missed It
Clive Irving
March 24, 2014
What I try to put in what I write is the insight that enables survival.
The American Prophet of Delusion: Robert Stone in Conversation
David Samuels
November 15, 2013
What enables this war-friendly philosophy is the fact that there is no military draft to dodge.
Charlie Rangel: Why I Oppose Syria Strikes
Charles Rangel, Michael Shank
September 5, 2013
That enables the homes to eliminate much of the need for heating and cooling.
A New Project Makes Owning an Ecofriendly Smart House Possible for More Than Just the 1 Percent
Edward Ferguson
August 1, 2013

Historical Examples of enables

It does more, it enables women to become heroes and martyrs!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox
Method is essential, and enables a larger amount of work to be got through with satisfaction.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
Yet it is not only this that enables him to appear as he does.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)
William Delisle Hay
But if I can discharge its debts it enables me to dispense with the popular code.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Later on it enables the animal to pass from one food locality to another.
The Meaning of Evolution
Samuel Christian Schmucker

British Dictionary definitions for enables

enable

verb (tr)

to provide (someone) with adequate power, means, opportunity, or authority (to do something)

to make possible

to put (a digital electronic circuit element) into an operative condition by supplying a suitable input pulse

Derived Formsenablement, nounenabler, noun

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

Word Origin and History for enables

enable

early 15c., "to make fit;" mid-15c., "to make able to," from en- (1) "make, put in" + able. Related: Enabled; enabling.