Meanings
plural possibilities
- countableuncountableThe quality of being possible.
'There is little possibility of that happening' 'I'd say there's rather a strongish possibility that it won't.'
Synonyms: possibleness
- countableuncountableA thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
1 more example
Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845Synonyms: contingency
- countableuncountableAn option or choice, usually used in context with future events.
Mycelial lives are so other, their possibilities so strange.
2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 76Synonyms: choice, option, option, choice, alternative, contingency
- countableobsoleteuncountableCapability, power or capacity to act.
VVere Iacke Strawe a liue againe, And I in as good poſſibility as euer I was, I would lay a ſurer trumpe, Ere I would loſe ſo faire a tricke.
1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act IV
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe quality of being possible.
nounA thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
nounAn option or choice, usually used in context with future events.
More synonyms by meaning
nouncapability of existing or happening or being true
nouna tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpossibilis“possible”
- Late Latinpossibilitās“possibility”
- Old Frenchpossibilite
- Middle Frenchpossibilité
- Middle Englishpossibilite
- Englishpossibility
From Middle English possibilite, from Middle French possibilité (from Old French possibilite) and directly from Late Latin possibilitās (“possibility”), from Latin possibilis (“possible”); see possible. By surface analysis, possible + -ity.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِحْتِمَال, إِمْكَانِيَّة
- اِحْتِمَال (iḥtimāl)quality of being possible
- إِمْكَانِيَّة (ʔimkāniyya)a thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- إِمْكَانِيَّة (ʔimkāniyya)option or choice, usually used in context with future events
Bulgarian възмо́жност, вероятност
- възмо́жност (văzmóžnost)quality of being possible
- вероятност (verojatnost)option or choice, usually used in context with future events
Catalan possibilitat, possibilitat
- possibilitata thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- possibilitatoption or choice, usually used in context with future events
Chinese Mandarin 可能性
- 可能性 (kěnéngxìng)quality of being possible
Czech možnost
- možnostquality of being possible
Danish mulighed
- mulighedquality of being possible
Dutch mogelijkheid
- mogelijkheidquality of being possible
Esperanto ebleco, eblo
- eblecoquality of being possible
- ebloa thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
Finnish mahdollisuus, mahdollisuus
- mahdollisuusquality of being possible
- mahdollisuusa thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- vaihtoehtooption or choice, usually used in context with future events
French possibilité
- possibilitéquality of being possible
German Möglichkeit
- Möglichkeitquality of being possible
Greek δυνατότητα, πιθανότητα
- δυνατότητα (dynatótita)quality of being possible
- πιθανότητα (pithanótita)quality of being possible
- δυνατότητα (dynatótita)a thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- επιλογή (epilogí)option or choice, usually used in context with future events
Hebrew אֶפְשָׁרוּת, אֶפְשָׁרוּת
- אֶפְשָׁרוּת (efsharút)quality of being possible
- אֶפְשָׁרוּת (efsharút)a thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- אֶפְשָׁרוּת (efsharút)option or choice, usually used in context with future events
Hindi संभावना
- संभावना (sambhāvnā)quality of being possible
Hungarian lehetőség, eshetőség
- lehetőségquality of being possible
- eshetőségquality of being possible
- kilátásquality of being possible
- esélyquality of being possible
- lehetőséga thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- eshetőséga thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
Icelandic möguleiki
- möguleikiquality of being possible
Indonesian kemungkinan
- kemungkinanquality of being possible
Irish féidearthacht
- féidearthachtquality of being possible
Italian possibilità, opportunità
- possibilitàquality of being possible
- opportunitàoption or choice, usually used in context with future events
Japanese 可能性
- 可能性 (kanōsei)quality of being possible
Korean 가능성
- 가능성 (ganeungseong)quality of being possible
Latvian iespēja
- iespējaquality of being possible
Lithuanian galimybė
- galimybėquality of being possible
Malay kemungkinan, kemungkinan
- kemungkinanquality of being possible
- kemungkinana thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- kemungkinanoption or choice, usually used in context with future events
Māori āheitanga
- āheitangaquality of being possible
Norwegian mulighet
- mulighetquality of being possible
Persian امکان, احتمال
- امکان (emkân)quality of being possible
- احتمال (ehtemâl)quality of being possible
Polish możliwość, możność
- możliwośćquality of being possible
- możnośćquality of being possible
- możliwośća thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- możliwośćoption or choice, usually used in context with future events
Portuguese possibilidade
- possibilidadequality of being possible
Romanian posibilitate, posibil
- posibilitatequality of being possible
- posibila thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- posibilăa thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
Russian возмо́жность
- возмо́жность (vozmóžnostʹ)quality of being possible
Slovak možnosť
- možnosťquality of being possible
Spanish posibilidad, posibilidad
- posibilidadquality of being possible
- posibilidada thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
- posibilidadoption or choice, usually used in context with future events
Swahili uweza, uwezekano
- uwezaquality of being possible
- uwezekanoquality of being possible
Swedish möjlighet
- möjlighetquality of being possible
Thai ความเป็นไปได้
- ความเป็นไปได้ (kwaam-bpen-bpai-dâi)quality of being possible
Turkish ihtimal, olasılık
- ihtimalquality of being possible
- olasılıkquality of being possible
- imkânquality of being possible
- olanakquality of being possible
- olabilirlika thing possible; that which may take place or come into being
Ukrainian можли́вість
- можли́вість (možlývistʹ)quality of being possible
Vietnamese sự có thể, khả năng
- sự có thểquality of being possible
- khả năngquality of being possible
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with possibility
Cite this entry
possibility. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/possibility
“possibility.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/possibility. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “possibility,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/possibility.
Source: possibility on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.