Verb

(enabling) (enabl)

To give strength or ability to; to make firm and strong.

* 1611 , King James Bible , "1 Tim. i. 12"

Who hath enabled me.

To make able (to do, or to be, something); to confer sufficient power upon; to furnish with means, opportunities, and the like; to render competent for; to empower; to endow.

* 1711 , October 13, (Joseph Addison), (The Spectator) , number 195

Temperance gives Nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}

To allow a way out or excuse for an action.

Verb

(conferr)

(obsolete) To compare.

* 1557 (book title):

The Newe Testament ... Conferred diligently with the Greke, and best approued translations.

*, II.3.1.i:

Confer thine estate with others […]. Be content and rest satisfied, for thou art well in respect to others […].

* Boyle

If we confer these observations with others of the like nature, we may find cause to rectify the general opinion.

To talk together, to consult, discuss; to deliberate.

* 1974 , "A Traveler's Perils", Time , 25 Mar 1974:

Local buttons popped when Henry Kissinger visited Little Rock last month to confer with Fulbright on the Middle East oil talks.

(obsolete) To bring together; to collect, gather.

To grant as a possession; to bestow.

* Milton

the public marks of honour and reward conferred upon me

* 2010 , Andrew Rawnsley, The Observer , 7 Feb 2010:

The special immunities that are conferred on MPs were framed with the essential purpose of allowing them to speak freely in parliament.

(obsolete) To contribute; to conduce.

* Glanvill

The closeness and compactness of the parts resting together doth much confer to the strength of the union.