Ability

How to spell ability

7 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce ability

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ability mean?

1. nounThe skill, capacity, or power to do something.

Ability in a sentence

• Her ability to stay calm under pressure impressed the panel.

• The new software stretches the ability of older computers.

Where does ability come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travelled into English from the Latin habilitas, meaning 'aptitude' or 'fitness for something', which was built on the adjective habilis, literally 'easy to hold or handle'. That adjective in turn came from habere, the Latin verb 'to have' or 'to hold', so the underlying idea is that a capable person 'holds' the skill in hand. English picked it up in the late 1300s by way of Old French, where it appeared as ablete or habilite, and the spelling later drifted back toward its Latin shape. The same habere root also gives us 'habit' and 'able', and noticing that 'able' sits at the start of the word is a useful reminder that 'ability' keeps that -i- before the -ty, not an -a-. The unstressed middle syllable is exactly where careful writers should slow down.

How the word is built

• abil- (from Latin habilis: able, easy to handle)
• -ity (noun suffix forming a state or quality)