imkân

Imkân, also transliterated imkan or imkān, is a term used across Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Turkish to denote possibility, feasibility, or potential. In everyday language, it expresses whether something could occur or be the case.

In Arabic, إمكان is the noun form meaning the quality or state of being possible; the related verb أمكن (amkana) means to make possible or to be possible. The concept extends into philosophical and theological discourse, where imkân is used to distinguish contingent (possible) beings from necessary beings and to discuss the conditions under which a thing might exist.

In Persian and Urdu literature, imkân is commonly used to mean possibility or likelihood, as in phrases that question or affirm potential outcomes. In Turkish, imkân is a standard noun meaning possibility; it can be combined with other words to express feasibility, such as imkân dahilinde (within the realm of possibility) or imkânsız (impossible).

Examples include: "Bu durumda imkân var" (There is a possibility in this situation) and "İşin imkânı yok" (There is no possibility of this).

Conceptually, imkân is related to notions of contingency and potentiality in philosophy, where it is used to consider what could be real under different conditions. It remains a common term in education, science, and public discourse to assess feasibility and likelihood.