Ables

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Plural of able, the name for a European freshwater fish of the carp family also called the orfe
2. Freshwater fish of the carp family found in European rivers, known by the plural form of its name
3. Several European freshwater fish belonging to the carp family, the plural of a fish name called orfe

Etymology: Latin "habilis" meant "easily managed, held, or handled," and it was used of things that could be grasped or worked with, as well as of people who were apt or skillful. English "able" descends from it through Old French "abile" and "habile" and an Old Northern French variant. "Habile" entered English as well, so the two words are doublets, both from the same Latin source. The Middle English adjective "able" gave us the Middle English verb "ablen," meaning to make able or to empower. "Ables" is the third-person singular present form of that verb, as in "she ables him to act," so it carries the same root meaning of enabling someone to handle a task.