enable

Definition

To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.

Etymology

From Middle English enablen, equivalent to en- + able.

Example Sentences

• "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."
• "This was widely interpreted to mean that slavery was once more firmly illegal in England. However, the "positive law" mentioned–i.e., a direct law specifically enabling slavery–existed in many British colonies (although not all), since these colonies had a degree of freedom to write their own law apart from that of the home country."
• "Temperance gives Nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor."