# possibility

Pronunciation: US say "po-suh-BIL-uh-tee" /ˌpɑ.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/; UK say "pos-i-BIL-i-tee" /ˌpɒs.ɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/

## Noun

1. Something that may take place or come into being; a thing that is possible.
   - Simple: Something that could happen or could be done.
   - _Failure is always a possibility when you attempt something untried._
   - _Doctors warned that a second surgery was a possibility if the bone did not heal._
2. An option or choice, especially one considered when planning future events.
   - Simple: One of the choices you could pick for the future.
   - _The committee weighed several possibilities for next year's budget._
   - _Staying in her current job remained a possibility she had not fully ruled out._
3. The fact or state of being possible: the chance that an event could happen or that something could be true, as in the possibility of rain.
   - Simple: The fact that something might be true or might happen.
   - _The possibility of rain forced them to move the wedding indoors._
   - _Engineers studied the possibility of the dam failing under heavy flooding._
4. The promise something shows: qualities that, if developed, could make it better, more useful, or more successful.
   - Simple: Good things about something that could make it better or more successful if you work on them.
   - _The abandoned warehouse has enormous possibilities as an artists' studio._
   - _Investors were quick to see the commercial possibilities in the new battery design._

## Noun

5. One's ability, strength, or capacity to act or accomplish something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The power or strength to do something.

## Origin

This word came through Middle English possibilite and Middle French possibilité (from Old French possibilite), as well as directly from Late Latin possibilitās, which came from Latin possibilis meaning "possible." It can be seen as possible plus the ending -ity.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/possibility (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).