cable

See also: câble, câblé, and cablé

English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪ.bəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪbəl

Noun

cable (plural cables)

(material) A long object used to make a physical connection.
1. A strong, large-diameter wire or rope, or something resembling such a rope.
  Synonyms: wire rope, cord; see also Thesaurus:string
2. An assembly of two or more cable-laid ropes.
3. An assembly of two or more wires, used for electrical power or data circuits; one or more and/or the whole may be insulated.
4. (nautical) A strong rope or chain used to moor or anchor a ship.
  Coordinate term: hawser
  - 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299:
    “And now the time of tide has come; the ship casts off her cables; and from the deserted wharf the uncheered ship for Tarshish, all careening, glides to sea.
(communication) A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
I tried to watch the movie last night but my cable was out.
- 2014 March 15, “Turn it off”, in The Economist‎, volume 410, number 8878:
  If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets, […] . Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.
1. (television) Ellipsis of cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.
A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.
Synonym: cablegram
(nautical) A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.
Synonym: cable length
(unit, chiefly nautical) 100 fathoms, 600 imperial feet, approximately 185 m.
(finance) The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
(architecture) A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.
(knitting) A textural pattern achieved by passing groups of stitches over one another.

Derived terms

array cable
basic cable
booster cable
Bowden cable
cable box
cable buoy
cable car
cable-car
cablecar
cable drum
cable ferry
cable gland
cablegram
cable internet
cable jack
cable joint
cable jointing
cable knit
cable-knit
cable knitting
cable-laid
cable-laid rope
cable man
cable modem
cable moulding
cable radio
cable release
cable ship
cable station
cable-stayed bridge
cable stitch
cable stripper
cable television
cable terminal
cable theory
cable tie
cable tray
cable TV
cable up
cableway
chain-cable
chain cable
coax cable
coaxial cable
crossover cable
data cable
extension cable
IDE cable
jumper cable
kettle cable
power cable
ribbon cable
rollover cable
SATA cable
screened cable
sheathed cable
shielded cable
slip the cable
stream cable
suicide cable
wireless cable
wye cable
Y cable

Related terms

cablet

Translations

large wire, rope

Armenian: ճոպան (hy) (čopan)
Bashkir: арҡан (arqan)
Belarusian: трос m (tros), кана́т m (kanát)
Bulgarian: дебе́ло въже́ n (debélo vǎžé)
Catalan: cable (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 纜繩／缆绳 (zh) (lǎnshéng), 纜索／缆索 (zh) (lǎnsuǒ)
Danish: kabel (da) n
Czech: lano (cs) n
Dutch: kabel (nl) m
Esperanto: kablo
Finnish: kaapeli (fi)
French: câble (fr) m
Galician: cabo (gl) m, cable (gl) m
Georgian: ბაგირი (bagiri), კაბელი (ka) (ḳabeli)
German: Seil (de), Tau (de)
Greek:
Ancient: σπάρτον n (spárton)
Hebrew: כֶּבֶל‎ (he) m (kével), כָּבֶּל‎ (he) m (kábel)
Hungarian: kábel (hu)
Indonesian: kabel (id)
Irish: cábla m
Italian: cavo (it) m
Khmer: ពួរ (km) (puə), ខ្សែ (km) (khsae)
Lao: ເຊືອກ (sư̄ak)
Latin: saphon m
Latvian: trose (lv) f
Lithuanian: lynas m
Macedonian: јаже n (jaže), ортома f (ortoma), гајтан m (gajtan)
Malay: tali belati
Maori: taura
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kabel (no) m
Nynorsk: kabel m
Polish: kabel (pl) m, przewód (pl) m
Portuguese: cabo (pt) m
Romanian: cablu (ro), frânghie (ro) f
Russian: трос (ru) m (tros), кана́т (ru) m (kanát)
Scottish Gaelic: càball m
Slovak: lano n
Slovene: kabel (sl) m
Spanish: cable (es) m
Swedish: kabel (sv) c, wire (sv) c
Tatar: аркан (tt) (arkan)
Thai: พวน (th) (puuan), เชือก (th) (chʉ̂ʉak)
Ukrainian: трос m (tros), ли́нва (uk) f (lýnva), кодо́ла (uk) f (kodóla), кана́т (uk) m (kanát)
Uzbek: kabel (uz)

assembly of wires for electricity

Albanian: kabllo (sq) m
Arabic: كَابْل‎ m (kābl)
Armenian: մալուխ (hy) (malux), կաբել (hy) (kabel)
Azerbaijani: kabel (az)
Belarusian: ка́бель m (kábjelʹ)
Bulgarian: ка́бел (bg) m (kábel)
Burmese: သံကြိုး (my) (samkrui:)
Catalan: cable (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 電纜／电缆 (zh) (diànlǎn), 電線／电线 (zh) (diànxiàn)
Czech: kabel (cs) m
Danish: kabel (da) n
Dutch: (electrische) kabel (nl) m
Esperanto: kablo
Estonian: kaabel (et)
Finnish: kaapeli (fi)
French: câble (fr) m, fil électrique m
Galician: cable (gl) m
Georgian: კაბელი (ka) (ḳabeli), სადენი (sadeni)
German: Kabel (de) n, Leitung (de) f
Greek: καλώδιο (el) (kalódio)
Hebrew: כֶּבֶל‎ (he) m (kevél)
Hindi: केबल m (kebal)
Italian: cavo (it) m, cavo elettrico m
Japanese: ケーブル (kēburu), 電線 (ja) (densen), 電纜 (ja) (でんらん, denran)
Kazakh: кабель (kabel), кәбіл (käbıl), шоғырсым (şoğyrsym)
Khmer: ខ្សែលួសធំ (khsae luəh thom), ពួរ (km) (puə), ខ្សែ (km) (khsae)
Korean: 케이블 (ko) (keibeul), 까벨 (ko) (kkabel) (North Korea), 전선(電線) (ko) (jeonseon), 전람(電纜) (ko) (jeollam)
Kyrgyz: кабель (ky) (kabelʹ)
Lao: ລວດ (lūat), ສາຍໄຟ (sāi fai)
Latvian: kabelis m
Lithuanian: kabelis m
Macedonian: кабел m (kabel)
Malay: kabel
Maori: taura hiko
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: утас (mn) (utas)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kabel (no) m, ledning m or f
Nynorsk: kabel m
Persian: کابل‎ (fa) (kâbl)
Polish: kabel (pl) m, przewód (pl) m
Portuguese: cabo (pt) m, fio (pt) m
Romanian: cablu (ro) n, conductor (ro) m
Russian: ка́бель (ru) m (kábelʹ), про́вод (ru) m (próvod)
Scottish Gaelic: càball m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ка́бел m
Roman: kábel (sh) m
Slovak: kábel m
Slovene: kabel (sl) m, vodič (sl) m
Spanish: cable (es) m
Swedish: elkabel (sv) c, kabel (sv) c
Tagalog: (literally) kable n
Tajik: кабел (tg) (kabel)
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Tatar: кабель (qabel’)
Thai: เคเบิล (kee-bə̂n), ลวด (th) (lûuat), สายไฟ (th) (sǎai-fai)
Turkish: kablo (tr)
Turkmen: kabel
Ukrainian: ка́бель (uk) m (kábelʹ)
Urdu: کیبَل‎ m (kebal)
Uzbek: kabel (uz)
Vietnamese: cáp (vi)

heavy rope or chain as used for mooring

Armenian: ճոպան (hy) (čopan)
Bulgarian: швартово въже́ n (švartovo vǎžé)
Czech: lano (cs) n
Dutch: kabel (nl) m, tros (nl)
Finnish: touvi (fi)
Galician: cable (gl) m, toa (gl) f
German: Tau (de), Kette (de)
Greek: παλαμάρι (el) n (palamári)
Hebrew: עֲבוֹת‎ (he) m (avot)
Macedonian: ортома f (ortoma)
Maori: taura
Polish: lina (pl) f
Portuguese: boça (pt) f
Russian: кана́т (ru) m (kanát), шварто́в (ru) m (švartóv), ка́бельтов (ru) m (kábelʹtov), трос (ru) m (tros)
Scottish Gaelic: càball m
Slovak: lano n
Spanish: cuerda (es) f
Swedish: kabel (sv) c, tross (sv) c
Tagalog: sao

communications system with coaxial or fiber optic

Armenian: կաբելային (hy) (kabelayin)
Bulgarian: кабел (bg) m (kabel)
Czech: kabel (cs) m
Dutch: kabel (nl) m, kabelnetwerk (nl) n
Finnish: kaapeliverkko
Georgian: სადენი (sadeni), კაბელი (ka) (ḳabeli)
German: Kabel (de), Leitung (de)
Hebrew: כְּבָלִים‎ pl (kvalím)
Macedonian: кабел m (kabel)
Portuguese: cabo (pt) m, linha (pt) f
Romanian: cablu (ro), cablu optic n
Russian: ка́бель (ru) m (kábelʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: càball m
Spanish: cable (es) m
Swedish: kabel (sv) c
Vietnamese: cáp (vi)

TV broadcast over cable network

Czech: kabelovka f
Indonesian: TV kabel
Romanian: televiziune prin cablu
Spanish: televisión por cable f
Vietnamese: cáp (vi), truyền hình cáp

Armenian: հեռագիր (hy) (heṙagir)
Bulgarian: телегра́ма (bg) f (telegráma)
Czech: telegram (cs) m
Dutch: telegram (nl) n, kabeltelegram (nl) n
Finnish: sähke (fi)
French: câble (fr) m
German: Telegramm (de)
Lithuanian: telegrama f
Macedonian: телеграма f (telegrama)
Maori: waea
Polish: telegram (pl) m, depesza (pl) f
Portuguese: telegrama (pt) m
Romanian: telegramă (ro) f, telegrame f pl
Russian: телегра́мма (ru) f (telegrámma)
Scottish Gaelic: teileagram m
Slovene: telegram m
Spanish: cablegrama (es) m, telegrama (es) m
Swedish: telegram (sv) n, meddelande (sv) n

nautical unit of length

Bulgarian: ка́белт m (kábelt)
Czech: kabel (cs)
Dutch: kabellengte
Esperanto: kablo
Finnish: kaapelinmitta (fi)
Hebrew: כֶּבֶל‎ (he) m (kevel)
Russian: ка́бельтов (ru) m (kábelʹtov)
Spanish: cable (es) m
Swedish: kabellängd c

texture pattern in knitting

French: torsade (fr) f
German: Zopfmuster n
Italian: treccia (it) f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kabel (no) m
Russian: ка́бель (ru) m (kábelʹ)

currency pair

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kablo
German: ^{(please verify)} Kabel (de) n
Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} כבל‎ (he) m (kevel), plural: ^{(please verify)} כבלים‎ m (kvalym)
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} kabel (id), ^{(please verify)} kawat (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} cable
Italian: ^{(please verify)} cavo (it) m
Latvian: ^{(please verify)} kabelis m
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} cable (es) m
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kablo (tr)

Verb

cable (third-person singular simple present cables, present participle cabling, simple past and past participle cabled)

(transitive) To provide with cable(s)
(transitive) To fasten (as if) with cable(s)
(transitive) To wrap wires to form a cable
(transitive) To send a telegram, news, etc., by cable
- 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 89:
  Details of a bottle fight in El Morocco were cabled all over the world.
(intransitive) To communicate by cable
(architecture, transitive) To ornament with cabling.
(knitting) To create cable stitches.

Derived terms

cable guy

Translations

provide with cable(s)

Bulgarian: окабелявам (okabeljavam)
Catalan: cablejar (ca)
Dutch: bekabelen (nl), cableren
Italian: cablare (it)
Polish: okablowywać impf, okablować pf
Romanian: cablare (ro) f

fasten (as if) with cable(s)

Catalan: lligar (ca)
Dutch: kabelen

send a telegram by cable(s)

German: kabeln (de)
Polish: kablować
Swedish: kabla

communicate by cable(s)

Dutch: kabelen

Anagrams

Caleb

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from French câble.

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /ˈka.blə/

(Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈka.ble/
Rhymes: -ablə, -able

Noun

cable m (plural cables)

cable

Derived terms

cablar
cablejar

Galician

Alternative forms

calabre, cabre

Etymology

Attested in 1432 as caabre. From Old French chaable (“cable”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaβle̝/

Noun

cable m (plural cables)

(material) cable
- 1432, A. Rodríguez González (ed.), Livro do Concello de Pontevedra (1431-1463). Pontevedra: Museo de Pontevedra, page 69:
  Outrosy, que nenghum seja ousado de amarrar nauio algund a a Ponte desta dita billa nen meter estaqas en ela e o que o contrario fezer peyte de pena por la primeira vez XX marauedises e por la segunda XXX maravedisse e por la tercera que pague perca o caabre ou cordaçon que asy amarrar o dito nauio e fasta dez dias enna cadea
  Also, that nobody dares to moor any ship to the bridge of this town, nor to put stakes in it. Whoever does another thing shall pay as a penalty 20 maravedis for the first time, 30 for the second time, and for the third time he will lose the cable or rope used for mooring the ship, and shall stay up to ten days in prison
Synonym: cabo

References

“caabre” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
“cable” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“cabre” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
“cable” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
“cable” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Middle English

Alternative forms

kable, cabul, cabull, kabel, cabil, cabel, cabulle, cabill

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaːbəl/

Noun

cable (plural cables)

A cable or strong rope (as used in nautical applications)
Any kind of rope or cable; a supporting wire.

Descendants

English: cable
Scots: cable

References

“cāble, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French câble.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkable/ [ˈka.β̞le]
Rhymes: -able
Syllabification: ca‧ble

Noun

cable m (plural cables)

a cable or cord
a wire
(colloquial) hand, help

Derived terms

cable coaxial
cable de arranque
cruzársele los cables
echar un cable
inflador de cables
televisión por cable

Descendants

→ Tagalog: kable

cable

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Galician

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

References

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading