habile, a.
(ˈhæbɪl)
[A variant of able (formerly hable, abil, etc.), conformed in 16–17th c. to mod.F. habile or Lat. habilis, and, in modern use, (sense 4) to some extent differentiated: see able a.]
† 1. Fitted, suited; fit, suitable; competent (to do something); = able a. 2. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. xxvi. 78 To that, baith curtas and cunnand He wes, bath habyll and avenand. 1533 Bellenden Livy iv. 334 Quhilk wes mare habil to have desirit than to have obtenit the tribunate. 1678 Marvell Def. Howe Wks. 1875 IV. 184 Apt and habile for any congenerous action. 1715 Wodrow Corr. II. 24 The most habile way to prevent the ruin of this church. 1795 Macknight Apostol. Epist. (1820) I. 624 Many habile and disinterested witnesses. |
† 2. Manageable, handy; = able a. 1. Obs.
| 1741 Betterton Eng. Stage v. 67 The Hands are the most habil members of the Body, and the most easily turned to all sides. |
† 3. Having the capacity or power (to do a thing); = able a. 4. Obs.
| 1558 Kennedy Compend. Tractiue 71 (Jam.) To be the mair habyl to keip the command of God. 1678 Gale Crt. Gentiles III. 32 That God's influxe doth..render the subject habile to act. |
4. Having general readiness; handy, ready; skilful, deft, adroit, dexterous.
| 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. (1880) 169 Ryol sawe the stroke come, and was habylle, and lepte a syde. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 189 The most proper and habile person. 1766 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances IV. 38 'Tis like practising Fencing with the left Hand..it renders one more habile, certainly. 1840 T. A. Trollope Summer in Brittany II. 223 The most habile writer of monthly fashions. 1886 H. Conway Living or Dead I. viii. 157 The cards fell quickly from his habile fingers. 1890 Harper's Mag. Nov. 894/1 That general training which made educated Americans of earlier generations so habile and adroit. |