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Support vs Enable - What's the difference?

support | enable |

As verbs the difference between support and enable

is that support is (to keep from falling) To keep from falling while enable is to give strength or ability to; to make firm and strong.

As a noun support

is something which supports. Often used attributively, as a complement or supplement to.

support

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Something which supports. Often used attributively, as a complement or supplement to.
    • Don't move that beam! It's a support for the whole platform.
  • Financial or other help.
    • The government provides support to the arts in several ways.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 19 , author=Kerry Brown , title=Kim Jong-il obituary , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=Kim was educated at the newly founded university in Pyongyang, named after his father, graduating in 1964. The 1960s and early 1970s were the golden years for the DPRK. It undertook rapid industrialisation, economically outstripped its southern competitor, and enjoyed the support of both the People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union.}}
  • Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold.
    • Sure they sell the product, but do they provide support ?
  • (mathematics) in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero, or the closure of that set.
  • * 2004 , Amara Graps, An Introduction to Wavelets''] — [http://www.amara.com/IEEEwave/IW_history.html ''Historical Perspective
    • The first mention of wavelets appeared in an appendix to the thesis of A. Haar (1909). One property of the Haar wavelet is that it has compact support, which means that it vanishes outside of a finite interval. Unfortunately, Haar wavelets are not continuously differentiable which somewhat limits their applications.
  • (fuzzy set theory) A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero).
    • If the membership function of a fuzzy set is continuous, then that fuzzy set's support is an open set.

    Antonyms

    * (mathematics) kernel

    Derived terms

    * moral support * combat support (military) * support group

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (senseid)To keep from falling.
    • Don’t move that beam! It supports the whole platform.
  • To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold.
    • Sure they sell the product, but do they support it?
  • To back a cause, party etc. mentally or with concrete aid.
    • I support France in the World Cup
  • To help, particularly financially.
    • The government supports the arts in several ways.
  • To verify; to make good; to substantiate; to establish; to sustain.
    • The testimony is not sufficient to support the charges.
    The evidence will not support the statements or allegations.
  • * J. Edwards
    • to urge such arguments, as though they were sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy
  • To serve, as in a customer-oriented mindset; to give support to.
    • The IT Department supports the research organization, but not the sales force.
    I don't make decisions: I just support those who do.
  • To be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for.
    • I support the administrative activities of the executive branch of the organization
  • (archaic) To endure without being overcome; bear; undergo; to tolerate.
  • * Dryden
    • This fierce demeanour and his insolence / The patience of a god could not support .
  • * 1881 , :
    • For a strong affection such moments are worth supporting , and they will end well; for your advocate is in your lover's heart and speaks her own language
  • To assume and carry successfully, as the part of an actor; to represent or act; to sustain.
    • to support the character of King Lear

    Antonyms

    * oppose

    Derived terms

    * supportable * supported * supportive

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    enable

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    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.

    • Antonyms

    * disable

    Derived terms

    * enabler * enablement * re-enable * reenable

    External links

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    Anagrams

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