Possible

How to spell possible

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce possible

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does possible mean?

1. adjectiveAble to happen, be done, or exist; within the realm of what can occur.

Possible in a sentence

• It is possible to finish the report before lunch if we start now.

• The doctor outlined every possible outcome of the surgery.

Where does possible come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin possibilis, meaning 'that can be done' or 'capable of being', which was formed on the verb posse, 'to be able'. That verb itself was a fusion of potis, meaning 'able' or 'powerful', and esse, 'to be', so at its heart possible carries the sense of having the power to happen. English borrowed it through Old French in the 1300s, and it has kept its meaning of feasibility ever since. The same posse root gives us 'potent', 'potential' and even 'power', all sharing the idea of capability. The spelling trap is the ending: it takes -ible rather than -able, and the double s in the middle can be easy to drop, so writers must remember both the two s sounds and the i before the ble.

How the word is built

• poss- (from posse: to be able)
• -ible (capable of)