capable
英 ['keɪpəb(ə)l]
美 ['kepəbl]
助記提示
1、cap- + -able.
2、含義:able to grasp or hold, able to hold much.
中文詞源
capable 能夠的來自詞根cap, 持,握,抓。詞源同accept, capture.
英文詞源
- capable
- capable: [16] In common with a wide range of other English words, from capture to recuperate, capable comes from Latin capere ‘take’, a relative of English heave. An adjective derived from the verb was Latin capāx ‘able to hold much’, from which English gets capacious [17] and capacity [15]. From its stem capāci- was formed the late Latin adjective capābilis, also originally ‘able to contain things’.
This meaning still survived when the word passed, via French capable, into English (‘They are almost capable of a bushel of wheat’, Thomas Wright, The Passions of the Mind 1601), but by the end of the 18th century it had died out, having passed into the current ‘able to, susceptible of’.
=> capacious, capacity, capture, chase, heave, recuperate - capable (adj.)
- 1560s, from Middle French capable or directly from Late Latin capabilis "receptive; able to grasp or hold," used by theologians, from Latin capax "able to hold much, broad, wide, roomy;" also "receptive, fit for;" adjectival form of capere "to grasp, lay hold, take, catch; undertake; take in, hold; be large enough for; comprehend," from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (cognates: Sanskrit kapati "two handfuls;" Greek kaptein "to swallow, gulp down;" Lettish kampiu "seize;" Old Irish cacht "servant-girl," literally "captive;" Welsh caeth "captive, slave;" Gothic haban "have, hold;" Old English hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold," Modern English have). Related: Capably.
雙語例句
- 1. I believe I am capable of calculating the political consequences accurately.
- 我覺得我能準確預料此事的政治後果。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. All dogs are capable of doing harm to human beings.
- 隻要是狗就可能會咬人。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. She has an aged parent who's capable of being very difficult.
- 她有一個年邁的父親,可能會很不好相處。
來自柯林斯例句
- 4. It is hard to imagine Lineker capable of anything so extreme.
- 很難想象萊恩克爾能做出如此極端的事情。
來自柯林斯例句
- 5. The larger firm was capable of providing a better range of services.
- 較大的公司能夠提供一係列更好的服務。
來自柯林斯例句