Other forms: abilities
Ability is what somebody is able to do. Natural ability, ability to pay, mixed ability.
In education, mixed ability describes a class taught together rather than streamed, and whether that helps is one of the longest-running arguments in teaching. Ability to pay is a legal test in fines and in tax. Note able; and that the Latin habilis means apt or handy, from habere, to have.
1nounabilityWhat somebody is able to do.
“She has the ability to explain difficult ideas in simple words.”
ability is a capacity.
Latin habilitas comes from habilis, apt or handy, from habere, to have. Able and habit come from the same having.
Proto-Indo-European
*gʰeh₁bʰ-
Latin
habilitās — aptness, ability
Old French
ablete
Middle English
abilite — suitability, aptitude, ability
English, today
ability
Built from
First attested in the 1300s. From Middle English abilite (“suitability, aptitude, ability”), from Old French ablete, from Latin habilitās (“aptness, ability”), from habilis (“apt, fit, skillful, able”); equivalent to able + ity.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA