possibility
nounUK /ˌpɒs.ɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/ · US /ˌpɑ.səˈbɪl.ə.ti/
Etymology 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.
1
The quality of being possible.
- 'There is little possibility of that happening' 'I'd say there's rather a strongish possibility that it won't.'
2
A thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
- 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 8845:
3
An 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 76:
4
Obsolete Capability, 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
- chance, contingency, contingent, eventuality, possibility, potentiality
- Antonyms
- impossibility, sure thing
- Derived terms
- logical possibility, nonpossibility, possibility of reverter, possibility theory, production possibility curve, unpossibility
- Related terms
- impossibility, possible, potence, potency, potent, potentate, potential, potentiality, power, probability
- Hyponyms
- accident, occurrence