different between strong vs capable

English

Alternative forms

• strang (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strong, strang (“strong, powerful, mighty, able; firm, constant, resolute, strenuous, hardy; hard, severe, fierce, stern, strict; bold, brave; valid, assured; effective, producing a great effect, potent; earnest; arduous, violent”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *streng?- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin string? (“tighten”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: str?ng, IPA^(key): /st???/, [st??????], [?t??????]
• (US) enPR: strông, IPA^(key): /st???/, [st??????], [?t??????]
• (Canada, cot–caught merger) enPR: str?ng, IPA^(key): /st???/, [st??????], [?t??????]
• Rhymes: -??

Adjective

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

1. Capable of producing great physical force.

2. Capable of withstanding great physical force.

3. (of water, wind, etc.) Having a lot of power.

4. Determined; unyielding.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp, chapter 10:

     It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

5. Highly stimulating to the senses.

6. Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor.

8. Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient.

10. (specifically) Having a high alcoholic content.

    She gets up, and pours herself a strong one. - Eagles, Lying Eyes

11. (grammar) Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels.

12. (chemistry) That completely ionizes into anions and cations in a solution.

13. (military) Not easily subdued or taken.

14. Having wealth or resources.

15. (slang, US) Impressive, good.

16. Having a specified number of people or units.

17. (of a disease or symptom) Severe; very bad or intense.
    • 2005, Andrew Gaeddert, Healing Immune Disorders: Natural Defense-Building Solutions, North Atlantic Books, page 221:

      Physicians may diagnosis influenza by a throat culture or blood test, which may be important if you have a particularly strong flu, if your doctor suspects pneumonia or a bacterial infection.

18. (mathematics, logic) Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.)
19. (of an argument) Convincing.

Synonyms

• (capable of producing great physical force): forceful, powerful, derf
• (capable of withstanding great physical force): durable, tough, sturdy
• (determined, unyielding): ardent, determined, swith, unyielding, zealous
• (highly stimulating to the senses): extreme, intense
• (having an offensive or intense odor or flavor): rank
• (having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient): concentrated, potent
• (having a high alcoholic content): hard
• (grammar: irregular): irregular
• (military: not easily subdued or taken): impregnable, inviolable, secure, unassailable, unattackable

Antonyms

• (capable of producing great physical force): forceless, weak
• (capable of withstanding great physical force): fragile
• (having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient): diluted, impotent, weak
• (grammar: irregular): regular, weak
• (chemistry: that completely ionizes): weak
• (military: not easily subdued or taken): weak

Hyponyms

• ultra-strong

Translations

See also

• strength

Adverb

strong (not comparable)

1. In a strong manner.

Synonyms

• (in a strong manner): forcefully, powerfully, vigorously, strongly

Antonyms

• (in a strong manner): forcelessly, powerlessly, weakly

Translations

See also

• strong as an ox
• strong personality
• strong verb

Anagrams

• trongs

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English strang, form Proto-Germanic *strangaz.

Alternative forms

• stronge, stronke, stron, strange, straunge

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /str?n?/

Adjective

strong (plural and weak singular stronge, comparative strongere, superlative strongest)

1. strong

Antonyms

• feble
• weyk

Descendants

• English: strong
• Scots: strang
• Yola: straung

References

• “strong, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old French estrange

Adjective

strong

1. Alternative form of straunge

Swedish

Etymology

Through Swedish slang, based on English strong, since 1922. There is also a form strång with a different sense since 1640.

Adjective

strong (comparative strongare, superlative strongast)

1. mentally and morally strong, courageous

Declension

Related terms

• strongt

References

• strong in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• strong in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tok Pisin

Etymology

English strong

Adjective

strong

1. Capable of producing great physical force; strong.
2. Capable of withstanding great physical force; strong.
3. Determined, unyielding.

See also

• strongim
• strongpela

Noun

strong

1. Strength

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French capable, from Late Latin cap?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ke?p?bl?/

Adjective

capable (comparative more capable, superlative most capable)

1. Able and efficient; having the ability needed for a specific task; having the disposition to do something; permitting or being susceptible to something.

2. (obsolete) Of sufficient capacity or size for holding, containing, receiving or taking in; accessible to. Construed with of, for or an infinitive.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:skillful

Antonyms

• incapable

Derived terms

• capability (noun)

Translations

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “capable”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Anagrams

• pacable

French

Etymology

From Latin capabilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.pabl/

Adjective

capable (plural capables)

1. able, capable

See also

• cap'

Further reading

• “capable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).