different between enable vs confer

English

Etymology

From Middle English enablen, equivalent to en- +? able.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??ne?b?l/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l

Verb

enable (third-person singular simple present enables, present participle enabling, simple past and past participle enabled)

1. To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
   • 1611, King James Bible, "1 Tim. i. 12"

     And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

   Synonyms: empower, endow

2. To affirm; to make firm and strong.
3. To qualify or approve for some role or position; to render sanction or authorization to; to confirm suitability for.

   Synonyms: let, permit, authorize

4. To yield the opportunity or provide the possibility for something; to provide with means, opportunities, and the like.

   Synonym: allow

   • 1711, October 13, Joseph Addison, The Spectator, number 195

     Temperance gives Nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor.

   • April 16, 2018, Norimitsu Onishi and Selam Gebrekidan writing in The New York Times, ‘They Eat Money’: How Mandela’s Political Heirs Grow Rich Off Corruption
   • 2009, Meribeth A. Dayme, Dynamics of the Singing Voice, Springer Science & Business Media, p. 174:

     Trainers of modern athletes monitor performance by using high tech equipment and biometric bodysuits with embedded sensors to enable detailed analysis of movement, balance, efficiency for athletic performance.

5. To imply or tacitly confer excuse for an action or a behavior.

6. (electronics) To put a circuit element into action by supplying a suitable input pulse.
7. (chiefly electronics, computing) To activate, to make operational (especially of a function of an electronic or mechanical device).

   Synonyms: activate, turn on

   Antonym: disable

Derived terms

• enabler
• enablement
• re-enable
• reenable

Translations

Further reading

• enable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• enable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• enable at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• baleen

English

Etymology

From Early Modern English conferre, from Middle French conférer, from Old French conferer, from Latin c?nfer?. Compare Dutch confereren (“to confer”), German konferieren (“to confer”), Danish konferere (“to confer”), Swedish konferera (“to confer”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/, [k?????f?]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?n?f??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

confer (third-person singular simple present confers, present participle conferring, simple past and past participle conferred)

1. (transitive) To grant as a possession; to bestow. [from 16th c.]

   The college has conferred an honorary degree upon the visiting Prime Minister.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Nor shall I count in hainous to enjoy
     The public marks of honour and reward
     Conferr'd upon me […]

   • 2010, Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer, 7 Feb 2010:

     The special immunities that are conferred on MPs were framed with the essential purpose of allowing them to speak freely in parliament.
2. (intransitive) To talk together, to consult, discuss; to deliberate. [from 16th c.]

   They were in a huddle, conferring about something.

   • 1974, "A Traveler's Perils", Time, 25 Mar 1974:

     Local buttons popped when Henry Kissinger visited Little Rock last month to confer with Fulbright on the Middle East oil talks.

3. (obsolete) To compare. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1557 (book title):

     The Newe Testament ... Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations.

   • 1661, Robert Boyle, The Second Essay, of Unsucceeding Experiments

     If we confer these observations with others of the like nature, we may find cause to rectify the general opinion.

4. (obsolete, transitive) To bring together; to collect, gather. [16th–17th c.]
5. (obsolete) To contribute; to conduce. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica

     The closeness and compactness of the parts resting together doth much confer to the strength of the union.

Synonyms

• (to grant, bestow, or contribute): afford

Derived terms

• conferment
• conferrable
• conferral
• agreement conferring jurisdiction

Related terms

• cf, cf.
• conference
• collate
• collation

Translations

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?kõ?f?r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?kon.fer/, [?k?nf?r]

Verb

c?nfer

1. second-person singular present active imperative of c?nfer?. Often abbreviated cf and used to mean "compare with".