adjective
liable
Legally responsible, or likely to experience a particular result.
Where it comes from
Liable ordinarily means legally responsible, or likely to experience a particular result. Middle English liable came through Anglo-French from lier, to bind, which descends from Latin ligare, also to bind. Ligare is the source behind such relatives as ligature and ligament. Liable first described someone legally bound or responsible.
How the meaning developed
From being bound to an obligation, it widened to being exposed or subject to a penalty or danger, and then to being likely to experience an outcome, usually an unwelcome one.
Sources
Definitions adapted from Open English WordNet where applicable. License and attribution. Word-history text comes from Lexifour’s sourced social research; pages are assembled automatically, not individually fact-checked on every update.
Updated 2026-10-05. Report a correction.