{
  "id": "possible.potential",
  "term": "possible",
  "sense": "potential",
  "pos": "adjective",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 3,
  "arena": "possible",
  "domain": "modal",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "that can happen",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "energy.capacity",
      "time.dimension",
      "happen.event-occurrence"
    ],
    "interaction": "When energy capacity is in time dimension, an event-occurrence can manifest as something possible.",
    "novel_properties": [
      "contingency",
      "temporal openness",
      "non-actualized change"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The Large Hadron Collider can produce Higgs bosons when operating at 13 TeV.",
      "domain": "physics"
    },
    {
      "text": "A seed in dry soil remains viable for years until rain triggers germination.",
      "domain": "biology"
    },
    {
      "text": "The 2020 Beirut port explosion became possible when ammonium nitrate was stored improperly for six years.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "id": "property.attribute",
      "note": "is-a",
      "type": "is-a"
    }
  ],
  "used_by": [
    "able.capacity",
    "enables.facilitation",
    "future.temporal",
    "golf.sport",
    "opportunities.economic",
    "regret.emotional",
    "risk.uncertainty",
    "try.effort",
    "wish.emotional"
  ],
  "forms": [
    "possible"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "openrouter:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.6,
    "reconciled": {
      "by": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "changed": "components",
      "note": "Added 'happen.event-occurrence' to components because the definition 'that can happen' inherently relies on the notion of an event occurring in time. The interaction now reflects how the components jo"
    }
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-possible.potential"
}