possible

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒ.sɪ.bl̩/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ.sə.bl̩/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: pos‧si‧ble

Adjective

possible (comparative more possible, superlative most possible)

1. (usually not comparable) Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.

   Synonyms: futurable; see also Thesaurus:possible

   Antonyms: certain, inevitable, impossible

   Rain tomorrow is possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

   It's not just possible, it's probable that there will be rain tomorrow.

   • 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:

     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.

2. (comparable) Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.

   Synonyms: achievable, doable, viable

   Antonym: impossible

   It's possible for anyone to learn to play the bagpipes.

   • 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume 4, page 438:

     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.

   • 1993 September 10, Lee Michael Katz, “Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals”, in USA Today‎^[1], archived from the original on 30 June 2013, page 2A:

     Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud.

   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:

     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.

3. Being considered, e.g. for a position.

   Jones and Smith are both possible for the opening in sales.

4. Apparently valid, likely, plausible.

   Synonyms: likely, plausible

   Antonym: implausible

Derived terms

• art of the possible
• ASAP (“as soon as possible”)
• as much as possible
• as quickly as possible
• as soon as possible
• humanly possible
• if possible
• possible world
• possibly

 

Related terms

• possibility
• potent
• potential
• probable
• improbable
• incidental
• contingent

Translations

able but not certain to happen

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: مُمْكِن (mumkin)

  Egyptian Arabic: ممكن (mumkin)

• Armenian: հնարավոր (hy) (hnaravor)
• Asturian: posible
• Azerbaijani: mümkün (az)
• Belarusian: магчы́мы (mahčýmy), мажлі́вы (mažlívy)
• Bulgarian: възмо́жен (bg) (vǎzmóžen)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Carpathian Rusyn: можный (možnŷj)
• Catalan: possible (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可能 (zh) (kěnéng)

• Czech: možný (cs) m
• Danish: mulig (da)
• Dutch: mogelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: eventuala (eo), ebla (eo)
• Estonian: võimalik (et)
• Faroese: møguligur
• Fijian: rawa (fj)
• Finnish: mahdollinen (fi)
• French: possible (fr)
• Galician: posible (gl), posíbel (gl)
• Georgian: შეიძლება (šeiʒleba)
• German: möglich (de)
• Greek: πιθανός (el) (pithanós)
• Hawaiian: hiki
• Hebrew: אפשרי
• Hindi: संभव (hi) (sambhav), मुमकिन (hi) (mumkin)
• Hungarian: lehetséges (hu)
• Icelandic: hægur (is), mögulegur (is)
• Interlingua: possibile
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: possibile (it)
• Japanese: ありうる (ariuru), 起こり得る (okoriuru)
• Kashubian: mòżlëwi
• Khmer: អាច (km) (aac)
• Korean: 가능하다 (ko) (ganeunghada)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: possibilis (la)
• Latvian: iespējams
• Lithuanian: galimas (lt)
• Livonian: võidõb
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: méiglech
• Macedonian: можен (možen)
• Malagasy: haizina (mg)
• Maltese: possibbli
• Maori: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nepali: सम्भव (sambhav), हुन सक्नु (huna saknu)
• Norman: possibl'ye m or f
• Northern Sami: vejolaš
• Old English: mihtlīċ
• Persian: ممکن (fa) (momken)
• Polish: możliwy (pl)
• Portuguese: possível (pt)
• Romanian: posibil (ro)
• Russian: возмо́жный (ru) (vozmóžnyj), вероя́тный (ru) (verojátnyj) (probable)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: mȍgūć

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: možný
• Slovene: mogoč (sl), možen (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: móžny

  Upper Sorbian: móžny

• Spanish: posible (es)
• Swedish: möjlig (sv)
• Tagalog: posible (tl)
• Tajik: мумкин (mumkin)
• Thai: เป็นไปได้
• Turkish: olası (tr), mümkün (tr)
• Ukrainian: можли́вий (možlývyj)
• Urdu: ممکن (mumkin)
• Vietnamese: có thể (vi)
• Volapük: mögik (vo)
• Walloon: possibe (wa)
• Welsh: dichonadwy, posib (cy)
• Yagnobi: мумкин (mumkin)
• Yiddish: מיגלעך (miglekh), מעגלעך (meglekh)
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

capable of being done or achieved; feasible

• Asturian: posible
• Azerbaijani: mümkün (az), yerinə yetirilə bilən, həyata keçirilə bilən
• Bulgarian: изпълним (bg) (izpǎlnim)
• Catalan: possible (ca)
• Danish: mulig (da)
• Dutch: mogelijk (nl), doenbaar (nl), doenlijk (nl), haalbaar (nl), te doen, overwogen (nl)
• Esperanto: ebla (eo)
• Finnish: mahdollinen (fi)
• French: possible (fr), faisable (fr)
• Galician: posible (gl), posíbel (gl)
• Greek: εφικτός (el) (efiktós)
• Hungarian: lehetséges (hu), lehető (hu) (only before superlative forms)
• Icelandic: mögulegur (is)
• Interlingua: possibile
• Irish: féideartha
• Isan: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 可能な (ja) (かのうな, kanō na)
• Khmer: អាចទៅរួច (ʼaac tɨw ruəc)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: iespējams, veicams
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: āhei
• Northern Sami: vejolaš
• Portuguese: possível (pt)
• Russian: возмо́жный (ru) (vozmóžnyj), выполни́мый (ru) (vypolnímyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: izvòdljiv (sh), izvòdiv (sh), ostvàrljiv (sh)

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: posible (es)
• Swedish: möjlig (sv)
• Tagalog: posible (tl)
• Thai: เป็นไปได้
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

being considered, e.g. for a position

• Azerbaijani: mümkün (az)
• Dutch: mogelijk (nl), denkbaar (nl)
• German: möglich (de)
• Greek: δυνατός (el) (dynatós)
• Hungarian: szóba jöhető, lehetséges (hu)
• Russian: подходя́щий (ru) (podxodjáščij)
• Swedish: möjlig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} ebla (eo)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} posibla (io)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} mungkin (id)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} possibile
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} possibile (it) m or f (1, 2 ,3)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} gengaz (ku), ^{(please verify)} mimkin (ku), ^{(please verify)} pêkan (ku)

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} möjlig (sv)

Noun

possible (plural possibles)

1. (colloquial, rare) A possible choice, notably someone being considered for a position.

   Synonym: candidate

   Jones is a possible for the new opening in sales.

2. (colloquial, rare) That which is possible for somebody.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     […] “don’t you be in any great hurry after that treasure.”
     “Why, sir, I do my possible, which that ain’t,” said Silver. “I can only, asking your pardon, save my life and the boy’s by seeking for that treasure; and you may lay to that.”

3. (rare) A particular event that may happen.

Synonyms

• possibility
• option

Antonyms

• impossible
• no-go

Translations

a possible choice

• Dutch: mogelijke (nl) n, mogelijkheid (nl), mogelijke kandidaat m

a particular event that may happen

• Dutch: mogelijkheid (nl)

Further reading

• “possible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “possible”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• bespoils

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin possibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [puˈsib.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [poˈsi.ble]

Adjective

possible m or f (masculine and feminine plural possibles)

1. possible

   Antonym: impossible

Derived terms

• possibilitat
• possiblement

Related terms

• impossible

Further reading

• “possible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin possibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.sibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

possible (plural possibles)

1. possible

Adverb

possible

1. (archaic) possibly
   • 1657, Cyrano de Bergerac, Les Etats et Empires de la Lune‎^[2]:

     […] ils conclurent tous d’une commune voix que je n’étais pas un homme, mais possible quelque espèce d’autruche, vu que je portais comme elle la tête droite, que je marchais sur deux pieds, et qu’enfin, hormis un peu de duvet, je lui étais tout semblable […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Related terms

• possibilité
• possiblement

Noun

possible m (plural possibles)

1. the possible, feasible, what can be done, achieved etc.

   J’ai fait mon possible pour votre fils, mais sans discipline, il ne s’efforce pas à plein.

   I've done what I can for your son, but without discipline, he won't put in full effort.

Derived terms

• au possible
• autant que possible
• comme pas possible
• dans la mesure du possible
• dès que possible
• faire son possible
• si possible

 

References

• “possible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.