English

Adjective

labile ‎(comparative more labile, superlative most labile)

1. Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
2. Apt or likely to change.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.12:

     Pythagoras [said] that each thing or matter was ever gliding and labile.

3. (chemistry, 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.

4. (linguistics, of a verb) Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.

Synonyms

• (likely to change): unstable

Related terms

• frigolabile
• lability
• lapse

Derived terms

• labile verb

Translations

Anagrams

• alible
• Biella
• liable

Danish

Adjective

labile

1. singular definite of labil
2. plural indefinite of labil
3. plural definite of labil

French

Etymology

From Latin lābilis ‎(“apt to slip, transient”), from lābor, lābī ‎(“slip; glide, flow”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

labile m, f ‎(plural labiles)

1. labile

Anagrams

• baille, bâille, bâillé

Italian

Etymology

From Latin lābilis ‎(“apt to slip, transient”), from lābor, lābī ‎(“slip; glide, flow”).

Adjective

labile m, f ‎(masculine and feminine plural labili)

1. fleeting, ephemeral

Anagrams

• biella, Biella

Latin

Adjective

lābile

1. nominative neuter singular of lābilis
2. accusative neuter singular of lābilis
3. vocative neuter singular of lābilis