possible
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpɒs.ɪ.bl̩/
ipa: /ˈpɑ.sə.bl̩/
note: Indic
ipa: /ˈpɔsɪb(ɪ)l/
Forms: form: more possible
form: most possible
Etymology: From Middle English possible, from Old French possible, from Latin possibilis (“possible”), from posse, possum (“to be able”); see power. Displaced Middle English acumendlic (“possible”), from Old English ācumendlīċ (“possible”). Compare also Old English mihtelīċ (“strong, capable, powerful, possible”), which was cognate with Old High German mahtlīh (“possible”) and Old Norse máttulígr (“mighty, possible”). Compare also Dutch mogelijk (“possible”) and German möglich (“possible”).
Senses: examples: text: Rain tomorrow is possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.
text: It's not just possible, it's probable that there will be rain tomorrow.
text: The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
synonyms: futurable
antonyms: certain
inevitable
impossible
glosses: Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
examples: text: It's possible for anyone to learn to play the bagpipes.
text: And success in minor degree, in the sense in which he uses the term "success," is only somewhat more possible than success in winning the White House chair.
ref: 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume 4, page 438:
text: Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud.
ref: 1993 September 10, Lee Michael Katz, “Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2013, page 2A:
text: Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
ref: 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
synonyms: achievable
doable
viable
antonyms: impossible
glosses: Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
examples: text: Jones and Smith are both possible for the opening in sales.
glosses: Being considered, e.g. for a position.
synonyms: likely
plausible
antonyms: implausible
glosses: Apparently valid, likely, plausible.
Synonyms: word: futurable
word: possible
Hyponyms: word: avoidable
word: impending
word: improbable
word: inevitable
word: probable
Derived terms: word: anything is possible
word: art of the possible
english: as soon as possible
translation: as soon as possible
word: ASAP
word: as much as possible
word: as quickly as possible
word: as soon as possible
word: compossible
word: counterpossible
word: humanly possible
word: if possible
word: nonpossible
word: possibilist
word: possibleness
word: possible world
word: possibly
word: unpossible
Related terms: contingent
improbable
incidental
possibility
potent
potential
probable