capabilitas

Capabilitas is a Latin noun meaning capability, ability, power, or capacity. It is formed from the adjective capabilis “able” with the abstract noun suffix -tas; the root cap- comes from capere, “to take,” signaling the capacity to take up or perform something. In classical Latin, capabilitas is relatively rare compared with facultas “faculty” or potentia “potential.” The term can denote the general capacity to perform an action or the feasibility of a state.

In philosophy and the scholastic tradition, capabilitas is used to discuss whether an agent possesses the power to bring about a given effect; it is often contrasted with actualitas “actuality” to distinguish potential ability from realized action. In medieval and early modern Latin, capabilitas sometimes carries a nuance of feasibility—the condition under which something can be done—rather than the active exercise of a power.

In modern contexts, capabilitas is primarily a Latin word used in linguistic, historical, or philological discussions; the English cognate capability is widely used across philosophy, economics, technology, and public policy. The influential “capabilities approach” in development theory originates in English (Asa Sen and Martha Nussbaum) and is typically discussed under the English term, though Latin scholars may translate or discuss the concept as capabilitas or capabilitates when interpreting Latin sources.