different between feat vs ability

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi?t/
• Homophone: feet
• Rhymes: -i?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman fet (“action, deed”), from Old French fait, from Latin factum, from facere (“to do, to make”). Doublet of fact.

Noun

feat (plural feats)

1. A relatively rare or difficult accomplishment.

Derived terms

• no small feat
• no mean feat

Translations

Adjective

feat (comparative feater, superlative featest)

1. (archaic) Dexterous in movements or service; skilful; neat; pretty.
   • 1590, Robert Greene, Greenes Mourning Garment, London: Thomas Newman, “The Shepheards Tale,” p. 17,^[2]

     […] she set downe her period on the face of Alexis, thinking he was the fairest, and the featest swaine of all the rest.

   • 1593, Thomas Lodge, Phillis, London: John Busbie, “Induction,”^[3]

     Oh you high sp’rited Paragons of witte,

     That flye to fame beyond our earthly pitch,

     Whose sence is sound, whose words are feat and fitte,

     Able to make the coyest eare to itch:

     Shroud with your mighty wings that mount so well,

     These little loues, new crept from out the shell.

   • c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act V, Scene 5,^[4]

     […] never master had

     A page so kind, so duteous, diligent,

     So tender over his occasions, true,

     So feat, so nurse-like:

   • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, Scene 1,^[5]

     And look how well my garments sit upon me;

     Much feater than before:

Verb

feat (third-person singular simple present feats, present participle feating, simple past and past participle feated)

1. (obsolete) To form; to fashion.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act I, Scene 1,^[6]

     […] most praised, most loved,

     A sample to the youngest, to the more mature

     A glass that feated them, and to the graver

     A child that guided dotards;

Etymology 2

Clipping of feature. See also the abbreviation feat.

Verb

feat (third-person singular simple present feats, present participle feating, simple past and past participle feated)

1. (transitive, informal) To feature. I

Anagrams

• EFTA, Fate, TAFE, TFAE, fate, feta

English

Alternative forms

• abilitie, hability, habilitie (obsolete)

Etymology

First attested in the 1300s. From Middle English abilite (“suitability, aptitude, ability”), from Middle French habilité, from Old French ableté, from Latin habilit?s (“aptness, ability”), from habilis (“apt, fit, skillful, able”), equivalent to able +? -ity.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??b?l.?.ti/, /??.b?l.?.ti/
• Rhymes: -?l?ti

Noun

ability (countable and uncountable, plural abilities)

1. (obsolete) Suitableness. [Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17^th century.]
2. (uncountable) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]
3. The legal wherewithal to act. [First attested in the mid 17^th century.]
4. (now limited to Scotland dialects) Physical power. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).]
5. (archaic) Financial ability. [First attested in the early 16^th century.]
6. (uncountable) A unique power of the mind; a faculty. [First attested in the late 16 ^th century.]
7. (countable) A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude. [First attested in the early 17 ^th century.]
   • 1769, King James Bible, Acts 11:29

     Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren.

Usage notes

• Ability, capacity : these words come into comparison when applied to the higher intellectual powers.
  • Ability has reference to the active exercise of our faculties. It implies not only native vigor of mind, but that ease and promptitude of execution which arise from mental training. Thus, we speak of the ability with which a book is written, an argument maintained, a negotiation carried on, etc. It always supposes something to be done, and the power of doing it.
  • Capacity has reference to the receptive powers. In its higher exercises it supposes great quickness of apprehension and breadth of intellect, with an uncommon aptitude for acquiring and retaining knowledge. Hence it carries with it the idea of resources and undeveloped power. Thus we speak of the extraordinary capacity of such men as Lord Bacon, Blaise Pascal, and Edmund Burke. "Capacity," says H. Taylor, "is requisite to devise, and ability to execute, a great enterprise."
• The word abilities, in the plural, embraces both these qualities, and denotes high mental endowments.

Synonyms

• (quality or state of being able): capacity, faculty, capability
• (a skill or competence): See Thesaurus:skill
• (high level of skill or capability): talent, cleverness, dexterity, aptitude
• (suitability or receptiveness to be acted upon): capability, faculty, capacity, aptness, aptitude

Antonyms

• inability, unability
• disability

Derived terms

• notability

Related terms

• able

Translations

Further reading

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

References