enable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈneɪ.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English enablen, from English en- + able, formerly also inable with in-.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make fit or qualified: 1415 in Barnhart,^[2] the early 15th century in Etymonline;^[6] the OED's earliest use is intransitive, to gain strength or power, about 1420.^[7]

Semantic evolution

To make able to do something is from 1443 in Barnhart,^[2] the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^[6] and to impart power adequate for a task from about 1460.^[7] To invest with legal status (1491) and to give legal power or licence (1526) are legal senses;^[7][8] an enabling act (1684) is so called because it empowers a body or person to take certain action.^[6] To supply someone with the means or opportunity is from 1531,^[7] and to make an action possible or easy from 1620.^[7] In computing, to make a device operational, to turn it on, is from 1962.^[7][9]

Timeline

• 1415 – to make fit or qualified.^[2]
• 1443 – to make able to.^[2]
• 1491 – to give legal status.^[7]
• 1620 – to make possible.^[7]
• 1684 – enabling act.^[6]
• 1962 – to activate a device.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To give someone the means, knowledge or opportunity to do something.
2. To make possible.
3. To give legal power or authority to.
4. (computing) To make a device or function operational; to activate.

Word family

• enabler
• disenable

Related words

• able
• ability
• disable

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins