Legally or morally responsible for something, or likely to do something.
From Old French 'liable' meaning bound or obligated, derived from Latin 'ligare' meaning to bind. The meaning evolved to mean both legally responsible and having a tendency toward something.
The word 'liable' is doing double duty in English—it means both 'responsible under law' and 'likely to happen,' which comes from the idea of being 'bound' to something. This dual meaning shows how the legal sense grew from the physical concept of being tied or bound.
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