Noun

(obsolete) Suitableness.

(uncountable) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do; capacity of doing something; having the necessary power.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)

, volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title=[http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jul/01/education-michael-gove-finland-gcse Finland spreads word on schools] , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.}}

The legal wherewithal to act.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title=[http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21579860-g8-pledges-tackle-three-ts-t-time T time] , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.}}

(archaic) Financial ability.

(uncountable) A unique power of the mind; a faculty.

* (rfdate) (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study -

(countable) A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.

* (rfdate) (King James Bible) , (w) 11:29

Then the disciples, every man according to his ability , determined to send relief unto the brethren.

* (rfdate) (1800-1859)

The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph

, title=[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/8882713/England-Under-21-5-Iceland-Under-21-0-match-report.html England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report] , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.}}

Noun

(en noun)

The ability for rational thought.

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The ability to be aware of things.

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The ability to remember things.

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The ability to focus the thoughts.

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Somebody that embodies certain mental qualities.

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Judgment, opinion, or view.

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Desire, inclination, or intention.

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A healthy mental state.

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*

*:“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

(lb) The non-material substance or set of processes in which consciousness, perception, affectivity, judgement, thinking, and will are based.

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*1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations

*:Study gives strength to the mind ; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

*1854 , Samuel Knaggs, Unsoundness of Mind Considered in Relation to the Question of Responsibility for Criminal Acts , p.19:

*:The mind is that part of our being which thinks and wills, remembers and reasons; we know nothing of it except from these functions.

*1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)

*:Thus they dwelled for nearly a year, and in that time Robin Hood often turned over in his mind many means of making an even score with the Sheriff.

*, chapter=7

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=