possibles

Possibles is the plural form of possible, used to denote things that might be true or occur. The term appears in several disciplines to mark a set of options or hypothetical states considered in reasoning, analysis, or narrative description.

In philosophy and logic: In modal logic and possible-world semantics, possibles refer to the inhabitants of possible worlds—states of affairs that could obtain, given certain laws or contingencies. Reasoning about necessity and possibility often involves comparing truths across different possibles. These usages trace back to early modern philosophy and the broader idea of possible worlds.

In probability and statistics: Historians and theoreticians sometimes speak of the “set of possibles” as the collection of all outcomes a trial could yield; modern terminology generally uses “outcomes” or “event space” rather than the plural “possibles,” but the sense remains similar in discussions of scenarios and decision-making under uncertainty.

In crime fiction and investigative practice: The word appears in less formal or genre-writing contexts to describe the pool of potential suspects—those who could plausibly have committed the crime before evidence narrows the list.

Other uses: In linguistics or general discourse, possibles can simply refer to items considered possible within a given framework, without implying a formal theory. The word is infrequent outside specialized discussions, and its meaning is usually clear from context.