liable

What it means

1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.

   The surety is liable for the debt of his principal.

   2 more examples

   He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family. The passion for philosophy, like that for religion, seems liable to this inconvenience

   1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

   The document states that despite its ongoing advancements, generative AI is liable to the United States’s current copyright principles, which take a strict stance on what material—human- or machine-made—qualifies for protection.

   2025 January 30, Tessa Solomon, “AI Art Lacking ‘Human Expression’ Cannot Be Copyrighted, US Officials Say”, in ARTnews

2. Subject; susceptible; prone.

   A man liable to heart disease.

   2 more examples

   This crime is liable to imprisonment for life.

   ☞ This word [earth] is liable to a coarſe vulgar pronunciation, as if written Urth;[…]

   1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 211

3. Exposed to a certain contingency or causality, more or less probable.

   Electronic devices are liable to malfunction when exposed to extreme heat.

In a sentence

The surety is liable for the debt of his principal.

Where it comes from

1. Latinligō, ligāre“to bind, to tie”
2. Old Frenchlier“to bind”
3. Englishliable

From Old French lier (“to bind”), from Latin ligō, ligāre (“to bind, to tie”). Compare typologically Russian обя́занный (objázannyj), обяза́тельный (objazátelʹnyj) (akin to вяза́ть (vjazátʹ)).