ABLE

Fit; adapted; suitable. [Obs.] A many man, to ben an abbot able. Chaucer.

Having sufficient power, strength, force, skill, means, or resources of any kind to accomplish the object; possessed of qualifications rendering competent for some end; competent; qualified; capable; as, an able workman, soldier, seaman, a man able to work; a mind able to reason; a person able to be generous; able to endure pain; able to play on a piano.

Specially: Having intellectual qualifications, or strong mental powers; showing ability or skill; talented; clever; powerful; as, the ablest man in the senate; an able speech. No man wrote abler state papers. Macaulay.

Legally qualified; possessed of legal competence; as, able to inherit or devise property.

To make able; to enable; to strengthen. Chaucer.

To vouch for. "I 'll able them." Shak.