liable English · revision 15204

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1450|origins=la ligō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlaɪ̯əbəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably formed with [[-able]] from [[fro|lier|t=to bind, tie]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|ligō|t=to bind, tie]] (see [[ligament]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*leyǵ-|t=to tie, bind]].^(Etymonline) It may come from an unrecorded [[m|xno|*liable]],^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) but Hoad points out that its late appearance and absence from Anglo-French and Anglo-Latin records would then be hard to explain.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bound or obliged by law: 1450 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the OED's first quotation is from 1542–3.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Exposed to or likely to suffer something unpleasant is from 1593,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and subject to the possibility of doing or undergoing something from 1682.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The use for simply ‘likely’, called unetymological by Etymonline, is attested by 1850, and the OED marks it as dialectal and American.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun [[liability]] is from the late 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1450 – bound by law.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1593 – exposed to something harmful.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1682 – subject to the possibility of.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1850 – likely.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Legally [[responsible]]; [[answerable]] for something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # At risk of, or subject to, something unpleasant: ''liable to flooding''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Likely to do something, especially something undesirable: ''it's liable to happen soon''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nonliable]]

+ * [[unliable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[liability]]

+ * [[oblige]]

+ * [[reliable]]

+ * [[ligament]]

+ * [[ally]]

+ * [[rely]]

+ * [[league]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Collins and the AHD discuss the use of ''liable to'' for ''likely to'', which some careful writers restrict to unfavourable outcomes.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD) In Cumberland, Yorkshire and the south-west, liable meant apt or inclined to (''he's liable to get drunk''), and in Cumberland and West Yorkshire also reliable.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}