labile
[ley-buh l, -bahyl]
- apt or likely to change.
- Chemistry. (of a compound) capable of changing state or becoming inactive when subjected to heat or radiation.
Show More
Origin of labile
1400–50; late Middle English labyl < Late Latin lābilis, equivalent to Latin lāb(ī) to slip + -ilis -ile
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lability
Historical Examples
And this, in turn, may be regarded as but a manifestation of the process of survival by lability rather than by stability.
Introduction to the Science of SociologyRobert E. Park
labile
- chem (of a compound) prone to chemical change
- liable to change or move
Show More
Word Origin
C15: via Late Latin lābilis, from Latin lābī to slide, slip
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
labile
(lā′bīl′, -bəl)- Receptive to change; adaptable.
- Constantly undergoing or likely to undergo change, as a chemical compound; unstable.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.