Noun

Singular ability

Plural abilities

ability (plural abilities)

1. The quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; -- in the plural, faculty, talent.

   Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren - Acts 11:29

   Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study - Francis Bacon

   The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability - Thomas Babington Macaulay

2. Considerable proficiency; natural capability.

Synonyms

• Capacity; talent; cleverness; faculty; capability; efficiency; aptitude; aptness; address; dexterity; skill. Ability, Capacity. These words come into comparison when applied to the higher intellectual powers.
• See also Wikisaurus:skill

Ability may be:

• aptitude
• Intelligence
• skill
• Expert

Ability may also refer to:

• Ability score, in role-playing games
• Ability Plus Software, makers of the office suite Ability Office
• Ability grouping
• ABILITY Magazine
• Ability Magazine

Categories: Skills

Quotes regarding ability:

• A gifted horse will lead a good rider to victory. A great rider will give to the horse the gift of soundness.
  • Jean Luc Cornille

• Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
  • Edmund Burke

• Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, in as much as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid.
  • John Keats

• A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations.
  • The Treasure of Franchard by Robert Louis Stevenson

• Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short.
  • John Henry Cardinal Newman

• Ability is of little account without opportunity.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte

• Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
  • John Wooden

• Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
  • Malcolm Forbes

• An able man shows his spirit by gentle words and resolute actions.
  • Chesterfield

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mon Jul 6 20:12:57 2009