incapable

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French incapable,^[2][3][4][5] recorded in French from 1517,^[6] and also directly Medieval Latin incapābilis,^[6][3][1] formed from in- (“not”) and capābilis (“receptive, able to hold”),^[3][2][1] itself from capāx (“able to hold much”) and capiō (“to take, hold”).^[3] The OED takes the English word only from the Medieval Latin and notes that capable is found in English from about 1560.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lacking ordinary ability; incompetent: 1594 in Shakespeare's Richard III,^[2][4] where the OED dates the quotation to the quarto of 1597.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Early senses followed the literal meaning of the Latin, "unable to hold": unable to take in or contain something (1609, in Shakespeare's Sonnets, to 1840) and unable to bear, impatient of (1643–1712).^[6][5] From 1601 it meant not open to an influence, insensible to.^[6][5] Since 1712 it has also been used of things, for not admitting of something.^[6] The common modern sense, lacking the power or fitness to do something, appears in The Tempest.^[6] From 1755 it could be used in a good sense, of a person too honest to do something base.^[6][5] The legal sense, not qualified or entitled, is recorded from 1651, in Hobbes's Leviathan.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "wanting power; wanting understanding" first.^[7] The passive sense of the Medieval Latin word, that cannot be grasped, was used in English only from 1605 to 1625.^[6] A noun incapable, an incompetent person, is recorded from 1809.^[6]

Timeline

• 1594 – lacking ordinary ability, incompetent (Barnhart and Merriam-Webster; the OED dates the quotation 1597).^[2][4][6]
• 1601 – not open to or affected by something.^[6]
• 1609 – unable to hold or contain (obsolete by 1840).^[6]
• 1651 – not legally qualified.^[6]
• 1712 – of things, not admitting of something.^[6]
• 1755 – too good to be capable of a base act.^[6]
• 1809 – noun, an incompetent person.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not able to do something; lacking the ability, usually followed by of: The old pump was incapable of lifting so much water.
2. Helpless, especially through injury or drink; in the phrase drunk and incapable.
3. Not admitting of something: a dispute incapable of settlement.
4. Lacking ordinary ability; incompetent.
5. Not legally qualified; disqualified.

Noun

1. An incompetent person.

Word family

• incapability
• incapably
• incapableness

Related words

• incapacitate
• capable
• incapacity
• capacity
• capture

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes incapable, which usually means lacking an ability or power by nature, from incompetent, used mostly of people unfit for a particular task, inefficient, wasteful of effort, and unable, which usually refers to a passing inability to do one thing.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House