capability
ca·pa·bil·i·ty/ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ə.ti/noun
capability is spelled C-A-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y: 10 letters and 5 syllables (ca·pa·bil·i·ty). It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, capability means “The power or ability to generate an outcome” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of capability is capabilities.
How many letters and syllables are in capability?
| Letters | 10: C-A-P-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: ca·pa·bil·i·ty |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is capability?
Capability appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce capability?
- UK /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
- UK /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ə.ti/
- US /ˌkeɪ.pəˈbɪl.ə.ti/
Capability has 5 syllables, split ca·pa·bil·i·ty in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-capability.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with capability?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as capability from its last stressed vowel (/ɪləti/):
- responsibility
- possibility
- probability
- accountability
- fertility
- sustainability
- eligibility
- instability
- vulnerability
- compatibility
- accessibility
- volatility
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of capability
- capabilities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does capability mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The power or ability to generate an outcome.
- 2
A digital token allowing a user or process to interact in a specified way with an object that is subject to access control.
A file descriptor can be considered a capability that can only be leveraged using the appropriate system calls, passing it as an argument.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Capability in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the power or ability to generate an outcome:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | capacité |
| German | Fähigkeit, Fertigkeit |
| Portuguese | capacidade |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does capability come from?
Formed in Modern English as capable + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).