liable

Etymology

From Old French lier (“to bind”), from Latin ligare (“to bind, to tie”).

adj

1. bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.
   The surety is liable for the debt of his principal.
   1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 34:
   The passion for philosophy, like that for religion, seems liable to this inconvenience
2. subject; susceptible.
   This crime is liable to imprisonment for life.
   A man liable to heart disease.
3. exposed to a certain contingency or causality, more or less probable.
4. (as predicate, with "to" and an infinitive) likely.
   Someone is liable to slip on your icy sidewalk.