Definitions for ability
əˈbɪl ɪ tiabil·i·ty

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.9 / 13 votes

1. abilitynoun

   the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment

2. ability, powernoun

   possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done

   "danger heightened his powers of discrimination"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.6 / 10 votes

1. abilitynoun

   The quality or state of being able.

2. abilitynoun

   A skill or competence in doing.

3. abilitynoun

   A high level of skill or competence.

4. abilitynoun

   Physical, mental or legal power to perform.

5. abilitynoun

   Aptitude.

6. Etymology: * First attested from before 1398.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Abilitynoun

   Etymology: Habileté, Fr.

   1. The power to do any thing, whether depending upon skill, or riches, or strength, or any other quality.

   Of singing thou hast got the reputation,
   Good Thyrsis, mine I yield to thy ability;
   My heart doth seek another estimation. Philip Sidney, b. i.

   If aught in my ability may serve
   To heighten what thou suffer’st, and appease
   Thy mind with what amends is in my pow’r. John Milton, Sampson Agonistes, l. 744.

   They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work. Ezra ii. 69.

   If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. iv. 11.

   2. Capacity.

   Children in whom there was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace. Dan. i. 4.

   3. When it has the plural number, abilities, it frequently signifies the faculties or powers of the mind, and sometimes the force of understanding given by nature, as distinguished from acquired qualifications.

   Wherever we find our abilities too weak for the performance, he assures us of the assistance of his holy spirit. John Rogers, Sermons.

   Whether it may be thought necessary, that in certain tracts of country, like what we call parishes, there should be one man, at least, of abilities to read and write? Jonathan Swift, Arguments against abolishing Christianity.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ability

   Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and executing them successfully results in an action, which is not true for all types of powers. They are closely related to but not identical with various other concepts, such as disposition, know-how, aptitude, talent, potential, and skill. Theories of ability aim to articulate the nature of abilities. Traditionally, the conditional analysis has been the most popular approach. According to it, having an ability means one would perform the action in question if one tried to do so. On this view, Michael Phelps has the ability to swim 200 meters in under 2 minutes because he would do so if he tried to. This approach has been criticized in various ways. Some counterexamples involve cases in which the agent is physically able to do something but unable to try, due to a strong aversion. In order to avoid these and other counterexamples, various alternative approaches have been suggested. Modal theories of ability, for example, focus on what is possible for the agent to do. Other suggestions include defining abilities in terms of dispositions and potentials. An important distinction among abilities is between general abilities and specific abilities. General abilities are abilities possessed by an agent independent of their situation while specific abilities concern what an agent can do in a specific situation. So while an expert piano player always has the general ability to play various piano pieces, they lack the corresponding specific ability in a situation where no piano is present. Another distinction concerns the question of whether successfully performing an action by accident counts as having the corresponding ability. In this sense, an amateur hacker may have the effective ability to hack his boss's email account, because they may be lucky and guess the password correctly, but not the corresponding transparent ability, since they are unable to reliably do so. The concept of abilities and how they are to be understood is relevant for various related fields. Free will, for example, is often understood as the ability to do otherwise. The debate between compatibilism and incompatibilism concerns the question whether this ability can exist in a world governed by deterministic laws of nature. Autonomy is a closely related concept, which can be defined as the ability of individual or collective agents to govern themselves. Whether an agent has the ability to perform a certain action is important for whether they have a moral obligation to perform this action. If they possess it, they may be morally responsible for performing it or for failing to do so. Like in the free will debate, it is also relevant whether they had the ability to do otherwise. A prominent theory of concepts and concept possession understands these terms in relation to abilities. According to it, it is required that the agent possess both the ability to discriminate between positive and negative cases and the ability to draw inferences to related concepts.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ability

   Ability refers to the possession of skills, knowledge, or qualities that enable an individual to perform a task, achieve a goal, or engage in a specific activity successfully. It encompasses the aptitude, talent, competence, or proficiency required to carry out a particular action or function effectively. Abilities can vary among individuals and can be developed or enhanced through learning, practice, and experience.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Abilitynoun

   the quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; -- in the plural, faculty, talent

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Ability

   a-bil′i-ti, n. quality of being able: power: strength: skill.—n.pl. Abil′ities, the powers of the mind. [O. Fr. ableté (Fr. habileté)—L. habilitas—habilis, easily handled, from habēre, to have, hold. See Able.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ability

   The feeling, understanding, power and knowing of being able.

   We are all able to do various tasks in life.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on January 25, 2020  

2. ---

   ability

   The quality of being able.

   She was ableto do anything her heart desires.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on January 15, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ability

   Ability vs. Capability -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Ability and Capability.

Matched Categories

1. • Quality

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ability' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1104

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ability' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1688

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'ability' in Nouns Frequency: #422

How to pronounce ability?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say ability in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of ability in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of ability in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of ability in a Sentence

1. Timothy Hagle:

   Many people forgave him for his misstatements and his missteps because they generally liked his ability to fight, even if that became a cliché for some people, Trump’s detractors.

2. Philip Goulder:

   HIV adaptation to the most effective immune responses we can make against it comes at a significant cost to its ability to replicate, anything we can do to increase the pressure on HIV in this way may allow scientists to reduce the destructive power of HIV over time.

3. Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve:

   The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some skill to do useful service, some urge to fit that service into the well-being of the community-these are the most vital things education must try to produce.

4. Timothy Kirkhope:

   It was very matter of fact, businesslike, she has this ability to not let on too much where her negotiations might be going ... If she were a poker player I would probably have some reservations about taking her on.

5. John Lewis:

   If we are into tougher times, it's our model, our ability to do things that are counter cyclical and possibly even counter intuitive that will see us through.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ability
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ability
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=ability
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ability
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=ability