probableadj.n.
/ˈprɒbəbl/, U.S. /ˈprɑbəb(ə)l/ A. adj.† 3. Able to be proved; demonstrable, provable. Obsolete.
1. † b. Of a person: worthy of approval or trust, reliable. Obsolete.
a. That commends itself to the mind; worthy of acceptance or belief, acceptable, believable. Occasionally in negative sense: plausible, specious. Now merged in sense A. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [adjective] > worthy of belief
probablea1387
provablec1429
satisfactory1605
vraisemblable1830
plausible1838
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [adjective]
fairOE
seeming1340
feignedc1374
colourablea1400
whitea1413
coloured?c1425
satiablec1487
provable1588
specious1611
well-seeminga1616
superficial1616
meretricious1633
glosseda1640
probable1639
spurious1646
fucatious1654
ostensible1762
well-looking1811
semblant1840
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 339 (MED) It is more probable [L. probabilius] and more skilful [= reasonable] þat þis lond was from þe bygynnynge alwey wiþ oute suche wormes.
a1402 J. Trevisa tr. R. Fitzralph Defensio Curatorum (Harl.) (1925) 46 (MED) Þe comyn opinioun of lewed men & of clerkes telliþ þat freres doþ so, and herto helpiþ þe probeble euydens.
1467–8 Rolls of Parl. V. 622/2 As it appereth by probabill persuacions of Philosofers.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 93 I can not wel tel what I schal say, your resonys are so probabyl.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 178 The least of these are probable.
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 129 One of his most probable excuses was to frame some journeyes out of towne.
a1692 R. Kirk Secret Commonw. in M. Hunter Occult Lab. (2001) iii. 100 The Reporters hooted at as Inventers of ridiculous Utopia's; or the first probable asserters punished as Inventers of new..Worlds.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 231 His schemes were probable.
1780 T. Jefferson Corr. in Wks. (1859) I. 280 He assigns the most probable reasons for that opinion.
1872 W. H. Jervis Gallican Ch. II. v. 165 It was proclaimed that an opinion was probable, and might therefore be safely followed in practice, which had the sanction of any single theologian of established reputation.
1912 B. Russell Probl. Philos. xiii. 217 The greater part of what would commonly pass as knowledge is more or less probable opinion.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > faithfulness or trustworthiness > [adjective]
soothfastc825
truefastOE
i-treowec1000
unfakenOE
trueOE
sickerc1100
trigc1175
strustya1250
steel to the (very) backa1300
true as steela1300
certainc1325
well-provedc1325
surec1330
traistc1330
tristc1330
trustya1350
faithfula1382
veryc1385
sada1387
discreet1387
trust1389
trothfulc1390
tristya1400
proveda1425
good-heartedc1425
well-trusted?a1439
tristfulc1440
authorizablea1475
faithworthy?1526
tentik1534
fidele1539
truthfulc1550
suresby1553
responsible1558
trestc1560
reliable1569
cocksurea1575
sound1581
trustful1582
truepenny1589
true (also good, sure) as touch1590
probable1596
confident1605
trustable1606
axiopistical1611
loyala1616
reposeful1627
confiding1645
fiducial1647
laudable1664
safe1667
accountable1683
serious1693
sponsible1721
dependable1730
unfailing1798
truthya1802
trustworthy1829
all right1841
stand-up1841
falsehood-free1850
right1856
proven1872
bankable1891
secure1954
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 264 Sum probable and verie notable persounes [L. probati viri] ar elected..to quhais creddit and faithfulnes..the Quene is commendet.
1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxxv. 198 There is not one example here mentioned, but it hath a credible or probable authour for the auoucher of it.
1682 G. Topham Rome's Trad. 223 If this be but the single opinion of a probable Doctor, we may have the same asserted by an Infallible one.
2. † b. With infinitive as complement: likely to be or to do something. Obsolete.† c. Relating to or indicating probability. Obsolete.
a. Having an appearance of truth; that may in view of present evidence be reasonably expected to happen or be the case; likely. Now the usual sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > [adjective] > liable to happen
probable?a1425
likely1437
casualc1440
incident1488
incidental to1616
liable1619
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [adjective]
likelya1400
seemlya1400
probable?a1425
allowablec1443
seeming?c1450
apt1528
topical1594
liking1611
suspicable1651
presumable1655
feasible1656
suspected1706
in the cards1764
on the cards1788
in the dice1844
liable1888
better-than-chance1964
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 107 (MED) It semeth probable [L. probabile] þat þe gutte be hote.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 77 (MED) A probable sillogisme..ȝeueth probable kunnyng oonli, that is to seie, kunnyng of likelihode and of opinioun but not of certeinte.
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Fi For more credible is the accusacion of lecherye in a fayre body then in a foule, and violence more probable in the strong, then in the weake.
1597 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 105 The dittay off Helen Fraser, a parte quherof is evident and manifeist, ane vther parte lycklie and probable.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 347 Most probable That so she dyed. View more context for this quotation
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 142 The birds neither sow, reape, &c. as you doe, Ergo tis lesse probable that they should be fed.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxv. 134 The necessary or probable consequences of the action.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi i. ii. 6/1 The probable disagreement of so Torrid a Climate unto English Bodies.
1792 C. Smith Desmond ii. xvi. 246 I continued my usual rambles therefore in the woods, but not at those hours when it was probable I should again meet them.
1809 J. Roland Amateur of Fencing 67 Is it probable that a man will thrust if he expects that he will be parried?
1814 D. Stewart Elem. Philos. Human Mind II. ii. iv. §4. 240 In our anticipations of astronomical phenomena..philosophers are accustomed to speak of the event as only probable; although our confidence in its happening is not less complete, than if it rested on the basis of mathematical demonstration.
1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon II. 317 This was the more probable solution.
1949 H. Bailey Demonstr. Physical Signs Clin. Surg. (ed. 11) xxii. 270 It is probable that the half of the scrotum never contained a testis.
1987 ‘A. Burgess’ Little Wilson & Big God (U.K. ed.) iii. 168 Professor Wright, whom age and probable shell shock had rendered confused.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 July 19/3 At least, that is the most probable explantion that I can think of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [adjective] > likely to be or do
belike1550
probable1583
in liking1601
like1757
1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. x. 307 The verbe substantiue is both more vsuall, and also more probable to be vnderstoode.
1613 G. Markham Eng. Husbandman: 1st Pt. i. ii. xix. 130 The practise of this I referre to such as haue abillitie to buy their delight, without losse, assuring them that all reason and experience doth finde it most probable to be most excellent.
1653 J. Gauden Hieraspistes 114 These rustick and rash under~takers..are only probable to shipwrack themselves.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. iv. §10 None is conceived so probable to have first peopled Greece, as he whose name was preserved..with very little alteration.
1693 J. Dalrymple Inst. Law Scotl. (ed. 2) iv. xlv. §11 The other kind of probation is when the very point in question is much more probable to be true than to be false.
ΚΠ
1665 E. Stillingfleet Rational Acct. Grounds Protestant Relig. i. v. 138 If he requires an Infallible assent he gives Infallible grounds; if he requires a firm and certain assent, he gives firm and certain grounds; if he requires only a probable assent, he gives only probable evidence.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. Introd. p. i Probable Evidence is essentially distinguished from demonstrative by this, that it admits of Degrees.
1774 T. Walker Vindic. Discipline Church of Scotl. ii. iii. 66 There are many opinions, even some religious ones, embraced by every body upon only a probable evidence.
d. That is likely to be or become (something specified).
ΚΠ
1876 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xviii, in Austral. Town & Country Jrnl. (Sydney) 9 Dec. 942/2 He essayed to make choice of a probable companion.
1996 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 20 Aug. 31 Sophie Rhys-Jones climbing into the staff charabanc while her probable husband-to-be sped off in the royal limousine.
2004 Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) (Nexis) 18 Nov. c1 Ongoing discussions with a probable partner organization are in the works.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [adjective] > capable of being proved
provably1395
provablea1425
monstrablec1429
probable1485
demonstrable1551
justifiable1580
averrable1588
verifiable1593
ostentative1601
remonstrable1604
affirmable1611
demonstrative1612
showablea1617
deducible1617
declarable1646
evidenceable1660
evincible1761
demonstratable1814
establishable1918
1485 in J. Raine Vol. Eng. Misc. N. Counties Eng. (1890) 43 Which..duly examined by hym..and no thing probable object ayenst the same..the said Maire..determyned that noo man..hensfurth name or call the said Alexandre a Scot or Scotteshman.
a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 46 (MED) God made never thyng voide and ydell in nature, but all thyng He made with a cause probable and by the most certayn reson.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xxxiii It is probable by an inuincible reason and an argument infallible.
1659 J. Milton Civil Power in Wks. (1851) V. 312 No man in religion is properly a heretic,..but he who maintains traditions or opinions not probable by scripture.
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. ii. 418 Executions by a Barrons Officer are valid, though not given in Writ, and that the same are probable by Witnesses.
1726 T. Hope Minor Practicks 128 If the Exception be proponed upon a Promise made for Life, or for more Years than one, it is not probable by Witnesses, but by Writ or Oath of Party.
1865 G. Grote Plato I. xix. 536 Neither proved nor probable.
B. n.
1.
a. A probable event or state of affairs. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [noun] > instance(s) of
probabilityc1454
probable1638
feasible1661
likelihood1759
1638 W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. ii. 77 That of ten thousand probables, no one should be false.
1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 27 What talk ye of some immediate and imminent probables (such as even sense may ghesse at; or present hopes, or fears, easily suggest)?
1679 R. South Serm. Several Occasions 25 If a thing in it self be doubtfull, let it make for interest and it shall be raised at least into a Probable; and if a truth be certain, and thwart interest, it will quickly fetch it down to but a Probability.
1728 C. Place That Space is Necessary Being 9 An indemonstrable, reduced to the Class of Probables, would suffer more by the Degradation, than any pretended Demonstrations could fetch up.
1839 J. Galt Demon of Destiny ii. 12 Braving the probables of nature, then He bow'd in worship down to Might alone.
1987 R. Hill Clubbable Woman (BNC) 188 It would give a possible base for the possible erection of two or three possibles. Lots of possibles. No probables.
2006 Guardian (Nexis) 19 Jan. 14 The possibles and probables are about to turn into actuals and definites.
b. With the. That which is probable.
ΚΠ
1705 tr. A. Dacier in tr. Aristotle Art of Poetry xxv. 419 In Epopœia, the Wonderful should excel the Probable, without destroying it.
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. Pref. Fable may be divided into the Probable, the Allegorical, and the Marvelous.
1830 Lady Morgan France 1829–30 II. 436 History and romance—the credited truth and the credited probable—stand pretty nearly in the same relation to certitude.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native II. iv. iii. 294 That Venn's keen eye had discerned what Yeobright's feeble vision had not—a man in the act of withdrawing from Eustacia's side—was within the limits of the probable.
a1902 F. Norris Pit (1903) ix. 334 Somehow it appealed to an uncompromising sense of the probable; it rang true.
1982 Times 3 Nov. 4/2 A reintroduction of Nimrod production has moved from the realms of the possible to the probable.
2. A person who or thing which is likely to become or do something; a likely winner, candidate, or competitor; (Sport) a person who is likely to be selected for a team. Cf. possible n. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [noun] > competitor or rival > one who takes part in a competition > specific types of competitor
dark horse1832
probable1868
novice1897
front-runner1914
1868 Edinb. Evening Courant 9 July Dulwhinnie is considered good enough to win, but Ben Black and Masquer have supporters... I don't like to prognosticate the ‘probables’ for Flying Stakes [Handicaps].
1895 Middletown (N.Y.) Daily Argus 10 Aug. 1/1 Gossip about the ‘probables’... There is much speculation as to who will be President Cleveland's choice for the United States supreme court bench to succeed the late Justice Jackson.
1906 Pall Mall Gaz. 23 Jan. 2 The last two ‘probables’ are untried men as far as Parliament is concerned.
1947 Times 3 May 8/7 Da Rui and Prouff are probables for the Rest of Europe side at Hampden Park next Saturday.
1977 R. Ludlum Chancellor Manuscript xxxii. 349 ‘What have you found out about our four candidates?’..‘One..I'd say a probable.’
2004 Irish News (Nexis) 3 May 22 Nine out of our 12 Olympic probables are training abroad.
3. Military. In the Second World War (1939–1945): an aircraft recorded as likely to have been shot down; (also) a submarine likely to have been destroyed. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > operations or manoeuvres > [noun] > salvo of depth charges > submarine probably destroyed
probable1940
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > group or unit on operation > [noun] > enemy aircraft > probably shot down
probable1940
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > used in warfare > enemy > recorded as probably shot down
probable1940
1940 Times 3 Apr. 8/7 This brings the total of German machines falling to A.A.S.F. fighter squadrons to 10—with a further three probables—in three days of fighting.
1940 in Winged Words (1941) 27 They were the new Heinkel 113s... We got..three or four of what we call ‘probables’.
1944 Sat. Evening Post 22 July 73/3 I chalked him up with only a probable, because I did not see it crash.
1955 ‘C. S. Forester’ Good Shepherd ii. 278 Out of his escort force he had lost a destroyer... But he had sunk two probables and a possible.
1977 L. Deighton Fighter v. 278 The RAF announced that..584 aircraft ‘were probably destroyed’... One assumes that half the probables were downed.
2006 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 7 Jan. In September 1941 alone, they flew more than 400 hours, destroying 18 enemy aircraft with several more probables.
Compounds
probable cause n. reasonable cause or grounds (for following a particular course of action); esp. reasonable grounds to believe that a particular person has committed a crime, especially to justify making a search or preferring a charge (now chiefly U.S. Law).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [noun] > reason or ground > reasonable grounds for making a search, etc.
probable cause1536
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > [noun] > grounds for charge
reasonable cause1389
probable cause1536
1536 R. Taverner tr. P. Melanchthon Apol. sig. O. viijv, in Confessyon Fayth Germaynes Without reasonable and probable cause nothinge be chaunged in the accustomed and vsuall ceremonies.
a1676 M. Hale Historia Placitorum Coronæ (1736) II. xviii. 150 They are not to be granted without oath made before the justice of a felony committed, and that the party complaining hath probable cause to suspect they are in such a house or place, and do shew his reasons of such suspicion.
1789 J. Madison in Congress. Reg. 1 428 The rights of the people to be secured in their persons, their houses, their papers, and their other property from all unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated by warrants issued without probable cause.
1850 Calif. Sup. Court 1 11 The offence which..there is probable cause to suppose he has committed.
1928 U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court) 275 106 The liquor was obtained by a search and seizure instituted without warrant or probable cause.
1976 Washington Post 14 Dec. a18/2 Why should the United States, without even a whisper of probable cause, be bugging a dependent ward that had been formally delivered into its care by the United Nations?
1998 Bloomington (Indiana) Independent 3 Dec. 10/2 If an officer is not able to establish the probable cause necessary to search the person's car, but still suspects that the person in question might be in possession of contraband, they can detain the person and try to develop probable cause.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1387