probable

English

Etymology

From Middle English probable, from Old French probable, from Latin probābilis (“that may be proved, credible”), from probāre (“to test, examine”); see probe, probity, prove. Compare recent doublet provable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒbəbl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑbəbl̩/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: prob‧a‧ble

Adjective

probable (comparative more probable, superlative most probable)

1. Likely or most likely to be true.

   It's probable that it will rain tomorrow.

   The probable source of the failure was the mass of feathers in the intake manifold.

   • 1959 October, Michael Robbins, “The Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 721:

     A major accident and embezzlement of its funds seem to have been the only disasters it escaped; and as to the latter, the most probable reason is that it never had any quantity of funds worth embezzling.

2. Likely to happen.

   With all the support we have, success is looking probable.

3. Supporting, or giving ground for, belief, but not demonstrating.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

     probable evidence

   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 8:

     From an examination of the Teutonic words for "temple" Grimm has made it probable that amongst the Germans the oldest sanctuaries were natural woods.

4. (obsolete) Capable of being proved.

Antonyms

• improbable

Derived terms

• equiprobable
• nonprobable
• probabilify
• probabilistics
• probability
• probable cause
• probable error
• probableness
• probably
• unprobable

Translations

likely to be true

• Armenian: հավանական (hy) (havanakan)
• Asturian: probable
• Belarusian: праўдападо́бны (prawdapadóbny), вераго́дны (be) (vjerahódny)
• Bulgarian: правдоподо́бен (bg) (pravdopodóben), вероя́тен (bg) (verojáten)
• Catalan: probable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可能 (zh) (kěnéng)

• Czech: pravděpodobný (cs) m
• Esperanto: probabla (eo), verŝajna
• Estonian: tõenäoline
• Finnish: todennäköinen (fi), luultava (fi)
• French: probable (fr)
• Galician: probable (gl), probábel (gl)
• Georgian: შესაძლო (šesaʒlo), სავარაუდო (savaraudo)
• German: glaubhaft (de), wahrscheinlich (de)
• Greek: πιθανός (el) (pithanós)
• Hebrew: סָבִיר (he) (savír)
• Hindi: प्रायिक (hi) (prāyik), संभावित (hi) (sambhāvit)
• Hungarian: valószínű (hu)
• Ido: probabla (io)
• Irish: is dóigh
• Italian: probabile (it)
• Japanese: 起こりそうな (ja) (okorisō na), 高確率の (kōkakuritsu no)
• Latin: probabilis
• Latvian: ticams, iespējams
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sannsynlig (no)

  Nynorsk: sannsynleg

• Occitan: probable (oc)
• Polish: prawdopodobny (pl)
• Portuguese: provável (pt)
• Romanian: probabil (ro) m or n
• Russian: правдоподо́бный (ru) (pravdopodóbnyj), вероя́тный (ru) (verojátnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вероватан, вјероватан, веројатан, вјеројатан

  Latin: verovatan (sh), vjerovatan, verojatan, vjerojatan (sh)

• Slovak: pravdepodobný
• Slovene: verjeten
• Spanish: probable (es)
• Ukrainian: правдоподі́бний (uk) (pravdopodíbnyj), імові́рний (uk) (imovírnyj) / ймові́рний (uk) (jmovírnyj)
• Volapük: luveratik (vo)

likely to happen

• Armenian: հավանական (hy) (havanakan)
• Asturian: probable
• Belarusian: вераго́дны (be) (vjerahódny)
• Catalan: probable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可能 (zh) (kěnéng)

• Esperanto: probabla (eo), verŝajna
• Finnish: todennäköinen (fi)
• French: probable (fr)
• Galician: probable (gl), probábel (gl)
• German: wahrscheinlich (de)
• Greek: πιθανός (el) (pithanós), ενδεχόμενος (endechómenos)
• Hindi: प्रायिक (hi) (prāyik), संभावित (hi) (sambhāvit)
• Hungarian: valószínű (hu)
• Japanese: 起こりそうな (ja) (okorisō na), 高確率の (kōkakuritsu no)
• Latin: probabilis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sannsynlig (no)

  Nynorsk: sannsynleg

• Occitan: probable (oc)
• Portuguese: provável (pt)
• Russian: вероя́тный (ru) (verojátnyj)
• Spanish: probable (es)
• Ukrainian: імові́рний (uk) (imovírnyj) / ймові́рний (uk) (jmovírnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} waarschijnlijk (nl) (1,2,3)

See also

• possible
• probeable

Noun

probable (plural probables)

1. Something that is likely.
   • 2013, Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, Christopher Shores, Japanese Naval Fighter Aces 1932-45, page 57:

     Four of the 32 251 Ku aircraft turned back, but the other 28 fought for 20 minutes against a reported 100 enemy aircraft, claiming 18 destroyed and five probables.

2. A person who is likely to appear or do a certain thing.

Further reading

• “probable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “probable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin probābilis.

Adjective

probable (epicene, plural probables)

1. probable

   Antonym: improbable

Related terms

• probabilidá

Further reading

• “probable”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin probābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [pɾuˈβab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pɾoˈbab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [pɾoˈba.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [pɾoˈβab.ble]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ablə, -able

Adjective

probable m or f (masculine and feminine plural probables)

1. probable

   Antonym: improbable

Derived terms

• probablement

Related terms

• probabilitat

Further reading

• “probable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Esperanto probabla

Proto-Italic *-ēd

Old Latin -ēd

Latin -ebor.

Russian -е (-e)influ.

▲

Polish -einflu.

Czech -einflu.

Esperanto -e

Esperanto probable

From probabla (“probable”, adjective) + -e (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /proˈbable/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: pro‧ba‧ble

Adverb

probable

2. probably (in all likelihood)

See also

• sense 1: eble, kredeble, sendube, supozeble, verŝajne

Further reading

• “probable”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin probābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.babl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

probable (plural probables)

1. likely, probable

Derived terms

• improbable
• probabilité
• probablement

Related terms

• prouver

Further reading

• “probable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Alternative forms

• provável (reintegrationist)
• probábel

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *pró

Proto-Indo-European *pro-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *probʰHwós

Proto-Italic *proβwos

Proto-Italic *proβos

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Proto-Italic *proβāō

Latin probō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin probābilisder.

Galician probable

Derived from Latin probābilis.

Adjective

probable m or f (plural probables)

1. probable

   Antonyms: improbable, improbábel

Derived terms

• probablemente

Related terms

• probabilidade

Further reading

• “probable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Ido

Adverb

probable

1. probably

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *per-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *pér

Proto-Indo-European *-o

Proto-Indo-European *pró

Proto-Indo-European *pro-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-

Proto-Indo-European *-wós

Proto-Indo-European *probʰHwós

Proto-Italic *proβwos

Proto-Italic *proβos

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Proto-Italic *proβāō

Latin probō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin probābilisder.

Spanish probable

Derived from Latin probābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoˈbable/ [pɾoˈβ̞a.β̞le]

• Audio (Bolivia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: pro‧ba‧ble

Adjective

probable m or f (masculine and feminine plural probables)

1. probable, likely
2. provable

   Synonym: comprobable

Antonyms

• improbable

Derived terms

• probablemente

Related terms

• probabilidad

Further reading

• “probable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026