labile en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈleɪ.baɪl/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b-der.? Latin lābor Proto-Indo-European *-elis Proto-Italic *-elis Latin -ilis Latin lābilisbor. Middle French labilebor. English labile Borrowed from Middle French labile, borrowed from Latin lābilis (“slipping, transitent”).
Meanings
- Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
-
Apt or likely to change.
Pythagoras [said] that each thing or matter was ever gliding and labile.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
-
Of a compound or bond, kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
Certain drugs can be conjugated to polymer molecules with a linkage that is labile at low pH to effect controlled release in a cellular endosome.
Water ligands typically bind metals in a labile fashion and are rapidly interchanged in aqueous solution.
- Of a verb, able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most labile | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more labile | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
hemilabile · labile verb · labilization · frigolabile · nonlabile · labilely · heat labile · stereolabile · labilize · labile affect · photolabile · thermolabile
Relateds
Synonyms
unstable · diffused · ambivalent · ergative
Translations (22)
scn làbbili (kinetically unstable) · pl niestabilny (kinetically unstable) · bg неустойчи́в (liable to slip) · bg лаби́лен (liable to slip) · pl labilny (liable to slip) · es lábil (kinetically unstable) · bg лаби́лен (kinetically unstable) · cs labilní (liable to slip) · it labile (kinetically unstable) · pl chwiejny (kinetically unstable) · ca làbil (kinetically unstable) · fi labiili (kinetically unstable) · pl labilny (able to change valency without changing its form) · pl zmienny (kinetically unstable) · sv labil (liable to slip) · pl labilny (kinetically unstable) · de labil (liable to slip) · es lábil (liable to slip) · cs labilní (kinetically unstable) · fi labiili (liable to slip) · scn làbbili (liable to slip) · fr labile (kinetically unstable)