debility
Americannoun
-
a weakened or enfeebled state; weakness.
Debility prevented him from getting out of bed.
-
a particular mental or physical disability.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of debility
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English debylite, from Middle French debilite, from Latin dēbilitās, from dēbil ( is ) “weak” + -itās -ity
Explanation
Debility is weakness caused by an illness, injury, or aging. Very elderly people often need extra care because of debility. Debility is similar to disability, although the first term tends to describe a slower process of slowing and weakening, either physically or mentally. It comes from the Latin debilitatem, "a weakening," and its roots, the prefix de-, "from or away," and -bilis, "strength." A lack of proper nutrition over a long period can cause debility, and the very act of living to be 120 is sure to result in debility as well.
Vocabulary lists containing debility
Novel Study: Ten Days in a Mad-House, Chapters I–X
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The Woman in White
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
General Debility, Exhaustion, Anæmia.—Many women go about suffering from great debility, being hardly able to drag themselves through the day.
From Treatise on the Diseases of Women by Pinkham, Lydia Estes
Debility of body, as well as uneasiness of mind, incapacitated him for that ardent and energetic pursuit of knowledge, by which he had been so eminently distinguished.
From Popular Lectures on Zoonomia Or The Laws of Animal Life, in Health and Disease by Garnett, Thomas
Diet in Debility sent us from one of our Leading Hospitals.
From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson
And so it came to pass; and this is the cause of the Debility of the Ultonians that was wont to afflict the warriors of the province.
From Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race by Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)
VARICOCELE, or a wormy, swollen or twisted state of the veins in the bag, and of those that run down to the testicles, is a very common cause of both Spermatorrhœa, Impotency and Debility.
From Manhood Perfectly Restored Prof. Jean Civiale's Soluble Urethral Crayons as a Quick, Painless, and Certain Cure for Impotence, Etc. by Civiale Remedial Agency
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
