\Prob`a*bil"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Probabilities}. [L.
probabilitas: cf. F. probabilit['e].]
1. The quality or state of being probable; appearance of
   reality or truth; reasonable ground of presumption;
   likelihood.
         Probability is the appearance of the agreement or
         disagreement of two ideas, by the intervention of
         proofs whose connection is not constant, but appears
         for the most part to be so.           --Locke.
2. That which is or appears probable; anything that has the
   appearance of reality or truth.
         The whole life of man is a perpetual comparison of
         evidence and balancing of probabilities.
                                               --Buckminster.
         We do not call for evidence till antecedent
         probabilities fail.                   --J. H.
                                               Newman.
3. (Math.) Likelihood of the occurrence of any event in the
   doctrine of chances, or the ratio of the number of
   favorable chances to the whole number of chances,
   favorable and unfavorable. See 1st {Chance}, n., 5.
Syn: Likeliness; credibleness; likelihood; chance.