Liable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈlaɪ̯əbəl/

Definitions

1. Legally responsible for something or likely to experience or do something undesirable
2. Being subject to legal accountability or having a tendency to experience a particular negative outcome is signified by this term
3. This term denotes the state of being legally accountable for actions or being prone to a specific adverse event

Etymology: "Liable" carries a sense of obligation that its sound hardly suggests. It comes from Old French "lier," meaning "to bind," which descends from Latin "ligare," "to tie or bind." The Latin root is the same one behind English "ligament" and "obligation," both of which keep the image of something tied fast. An adjective meaning "bound" in this way came to mean "bound by law," so that someone liable for a debt is tied to paying it. The modern sense of "likely to do something," as in "liable to rain," developed later from the same idea of being bound or exposed to a result. The two senses sit close together: a person liable for a fine is bound to pay it, and a path liable to flood is bound to be underwater when the river rises. The connection between them is easy to lose, because the word's form now looks more like "likely" than "bound."

Synonyms: responsible, accountable, subject

Antonyms: immune, exempt