English
capable
Capable comes from Middle French capable, from Late Latin capābilis ‘comprehensible’, from capiō ‘to take, hold’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō1‘to take, hold’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapābilis2‘comprehensible’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600capable2
- Englishearliest quotation 1672capable2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin capabilis
- 2 Wiktionary, English capable
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1672, Lord Herbert, The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth: “The place chosen was the cathedral church, capable of…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiōWiktionary, Latin capabilis‘to take, hold’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapābilisWiktionary, English capable‘comprehensible’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600capableWiktionary, English capable
- Englishearliest quotation 1672capableWiktionary, English capable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1672, Lord Herbert, The Life and Reign of King Henry the Eighth: “The place chosen was the cathedral church, capable of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap-
had, head, except, heavy, behavior, catch, capital, achieve, heavily, captain, chapter, chef, escape, acceptance, capacity, haven, occupation, behave, chapel, hawk, cape, cattle, cabin, precipitation, capitol, conceive, capita, mischief, captive, chaplain, captivity, mischievous, cad, haves, chieftain, precipitate, conceivable, occipital, heaviness, precipitous, 137 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’
through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, seize’
case, chassis, cashier, cassette, capsule, casket, kas, cajon, chasse, 26 more
through Archaic Latin kapiō
acceptable, imperceptible, 23 more
through Latin capiō ‘to hold, to contain, to take, to understand’
accept, receive, cash, chase, cop, recipe, reception, perception, capture, recipient, deception, anticipation, cable, anticipate, deceive, susceptible, deceptive, caption, cater, deceit, preoccupation, receivable, preceptor, perceptible, captivate, captor, sashay, 25 more
Today it means
adj Able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “capable”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin capabilis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin capiō / capable