Debility
debility
[edit | edit source]Etymology
[edit | edit source]From Middle French débilité, from Latin dēbilitās, from dēbilis ("weak, feeble"), from dē- ("away from") + habilis ("able").
Pronunciation
[edit | edit source]- IPA: /dɪˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/
- Audio (US)
- Rhymes: -ɪlɪti
Noun
[edit | edit source]debility (countable and uncountable, plural debilities)
- Weakness; infirmity; a state of abnormal feebleness, especially of the body.
- He suffered from general debility.
- (medicine) A condition of reduced vitality or diminished bodily strength; languor.
- The patient's debility made recovery slow and uncertain.
- (figurative) A weakening or impairment of will, resolve, or capacity.
- Years of hardship had produced a moral debility from which the community struggled to recover.
Synonyms
[edit | edit source]- weakness
- infirmity
- feebleness
- frailty
- enfeeblement
- languor
- asthenia (medical)
Related terms
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) — entry for debility
- The Century Dictionary (1911) — entry for debility
- Oxford English Dictionary Online — "debility, n.", entry 48130