Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CA'PA-BLE, a. [Fr. capable, from L. capio, to take. See Class Gb, No. 68, 69, 75, 83.]

1. Able to hold or contain; able to receive; sufficiently capacious; often followed by of; as, the room is not capable of receiving, or capable of holding the company.
2. Endued with power competent to the object; as, a man is capable of judging, or he is not capable.
3. Possessing mental powers; intelligent; able to understand, or receive into the mind; having a capacious mind; as, a capable judge; a capable instructor.
4. Susceptible; as, capable of pain or grief. – Prior.
5. Qualified for; susceptible of; as, a thing is capable of long duration; or it is capable of being colored or altered.
6. Qualified for, in a moral sense; having the legal power or capacity; as, a bastard is not capable of inheriting an estate.
7. Hollow. [Not now used.] – Shak.