possible

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpɒs.ə.bᵊl/, US /ˈpɑː.sə.bᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English possybil, borrowed from Old French possible and directly borrowed from Latin possibilis (“that can be done”),^[2][3] from posse (“to be able”) and the suffix -ibilis,^[2][4] itself from potis (“able”) and esse (“to be”).^[5] Barnhart notes that possibilis was coined by scholars in the 1st century AD to translate Greek δυνατός (dunatós, “possible”).^[3] It is related to potent and possess.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

That may be, that can exist or be done: probably between 1350 and 1375,^[3] or the mid-14th century according to Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Possibility is from about 1385, in Chaucer,^[3] and possibly from about 1400.^[3] From 1488 to 1692 possible could mean “the greatest possible”,^[7] and the sense “that may be true, conceivable” is recorded from 1582.^[7] The noun, “that which may happen”, is from the 1640s.^[2] The Century Dictionary insisted that possible means what may be, not what can be done, and that it should not be used for practicable.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – possible.^[3]
• c. 1385 – possibility (Chaucer).^[3]
• c. 1400 – possibly.^[3]
• 1582 – that may be true.^[7]
• 1640s – noun.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Able to happen, exist or be true without contradicting known facts or laws.
2. Able to be done; within one's power.
3. Capable of good development; potential.
4. Of uncertain likelihood: a possible risk.

Noun

1. Something that is possible; a potential candidate or choice.

Word family

• possibly
• compossible

Related words

• possibility
• potent
• potential
• probable
• improbable
• incidental
• contingent
• possess
• impossible
• feasible

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary contrasts possible with workable, practicable, feasible and viable: possible says only that something may happen, exist or be done.^[8]

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 f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin