different between vacancy vs possibility

English

Etymology

From vac(ant) +? -ancy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ve?k?nsi/

Noun

vacancy (countable and uncountable, plural vacancies)

1. An unoccupied position or job.
2. An available room in a hotel; guest house, etc.
3. Empty space.
   • 1993, James Michie, trans. Ovid, The Art of Love, Book II:

     Sky was set above earth, land ringed with sea, / Chaos retired to its own vacancy [...].

4. Lack of intelligence or understanding.
5. (physics) A defect in a crystal caused by the absence of an atom in a lattice

Related terms

• vacant (adjective)
• vacate (verb)

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle French possibilité, from Old French possibilite, from Late Latin possibilit?s (“possibility”), from Latin possibilis (“possible”); see possible.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p?s??b?liti/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?s??b?liti/
• Hyphenation: pos?si?bil?i?ty
• Rhymes: -?l?ti

Noun

possibility (countable and uncountable, plural possibilities)

1. The quality of being possible.
2. A thing possible; that which may take place or come into being.
3. An option or choice, usually used in context with future events.

Synonyms

• (the quality of being possible):
• (a thing possible): contingency; See also Thesaurus:possibility
• (an option or choice): choice, option; See also Thesaurus:option

Antonyms

• impossibility; See also Thesaurus:impossibility

Derived terms

• logical possibility
• possibility theory

Related terms

• impossibility
• possible
• potence
• potency
• potent
• potentate
• potential
• potentiality
• power

Translations

Further reading

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