enable

Verb

1. To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
   • And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it...

   Synonyms: empower endow

2. To affirm; to make firm and strong.
3. To qualify or approve for some role or position; to render sanction or authorization to; to confirm suitability for.
   • This was widely interpreted to mean that slavery was once more firmly illegal in England. However, the "positive law" mentioned–i.e., a direct law specifically enabling slavery–existed in many British colonies (although...

   Synonyms: let permit authorize

4. To yield the opportunity or provide the possibility for something; to provide with means, opportunities, and the like.
   • Temperance gives Nature her full play, and enables her to exert herself in all her force and vigor. - 1711 October 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, October 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 195;...
   • April 16, 2018, Norimitsu Onishi and Selam Gebrekidan writing in The New York Times, ‘They Eat Money’: How Mandela’s Political Heirs Grow Rich Off Corruption
   • 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...

   Synonyms: allow

5. To imply or tacitly confer excuse for an action or a behavior.
   • His parents enabled him to go on buying drugs.
6. To put a circuit element into action by supplying a suitable input pulse.
7. To activate, to make operational (especially of a function of an electronic or mechanical device).

   Synonyms: activate turn on

   Antonyms: disable