different between liable vs accustomed

English

Etymology

From Old French lier (“to bind”), from Latin ligare (“to bind, to tie”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la???b?l/, [?la???b??], [?la???b??]
• Rhymes: -a??b?l

Adjective

liable (comparative more liable, superlative most liable)

1. bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.

   The surety is liable for the debt of his principal.

   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 34.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

     He inveighed against the folly of making oneself liable for the debts of others; vented many bitter execrations against the brother; and concluded with wishing something could be done for the unfortunate family.

     The passion for philosophy, like that for religion, seems liable to this inconvenience

2. subject; susceptible.
3. exposed to a certain contingency or causality, more or less probable.
4. (as predicate, with "to" and an infinitive) likely.

   Someone is liable to slip on your icy sidewalk.

Related terms

• liability
• reliable

Translations

Anagrams

• Belial, Biella, alible, labile

English

Etymology

accustom +? -ed

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.?k?s.t?md/
• Hyphenation: ac?cus?tomed

Adjective

accustomed (comparative more accustomed, superlative most accustomed)

1. (of a person) Familiar with something through repeated experience; adapted to existing conditions.

   accustomed to walking long distances

   accustomed to cold

   • 1484, William Caxton (translator), The Book of the Subtyl Historyes and Fables of Esope, “The v fable is of the Foxe and of the busshe,”^[1]

     And ther fore men ought not to helpe them whiche ben acustomed to doo euylle

   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Henry Cripps, Partition 1, Section 2, Member 2, Subsection 3, p. 99,^[2]

     Such things as we haue beene long accustomed to, though they be evill in their owne nature; yet they are lesse offensiue.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, London: T. Egerton, Volume III, Chapter 14,^[3]

     “Miss Bennet, do you know who I am? I have not been accustomed to such language as this.”

   • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Missing Three-Quarter” in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1905, p. 294,^[4]

     Young Overton’s face assumed the bothered look of the man who is more accustomed to using his muscles than his wits […]

   • 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise, New York: Scribner, Book One, Chapter 2, p. 64,^[5]

     None of the Victorian mothers—and most of the mothers were Victorian—had any idea how casually their daughters were accustomed to be kissed.

2. (of a thing, condition, activity, etc.) Familiar through use; usual; customary.
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5,^[6]

     It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands: I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 1, Book 4, Chapter 9, p. 170,^[7]

     Molly had no sooner apparelled herself in her accustomed Rags, than her Sisters began to fall violently upon her […]

   • 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 2, Stanza 72, in The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, Boston: Cummings & Hilliard, 1814, Volume I, p. 249,^[8]

     Who now shall lead thy scatter’d children forth,

     And long-accustom’d bondage uncreate?

   • 1912, Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali, London: The India Society, Section 63, p. 37,^[9]

     I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest.

3. (obsolete) Frequented by customers.
   • 1778, Tobias Smollett (translator), The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane by Alain-René Lesage, London: S. Crowder et al., Volume I, Chapter 7, p. 148,^[10]

     There I got a place on the same terms as at Segovia, in a well accustomed shop, much frequented on account of the neighbourhood of the church of Santa Cruz, and the Prince’s theatre […]

   • 1817, Seth William Stevenson^[11], Journal of a Tour through Part of France, Flanders, and Holland, Norwich: for the author, Chapter 21, p. 283,^[12]

     The pompous hotel is a lone cottage of very mean appearance, on the road side, and I will be sworn, was but an ill-accustomed Inn, until those renowned Generals justly gave it a licence.

Usage notes

When referring to a person, accustomed is only used predicatively; when referring to a thing, it is only used attributively. The use of the infinitive following accustomed (e.g. accustomed to do) is obsolete; in contemporary English, the gerund is used in this context (e.g. accustomed to doing).

Synonyms

• (familiar through repeated experience): habituated, inured, used to, wonted

Translations

Verb

accustomed

1. simple past tense and past participle of accustom