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debility

[dih-bil-i-tee]
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noun, plural de·bil·i·ties.

a weakened or enfeebled state; weakness: Debility prevented him from getting out of bed.
a particular mental or physical handicap; disability.

RELATED WORDS

enfeeblement, decrepitude, feebleness, disease, malaise, exhaustion, frailty, languor, enervation, infirmity, faintness, sickliness

Nearby words

  1. debenture bond,
  2. debierne,
  3. debilitate,
  4. debilitating,
  5. debilitation,
  6. debir,
  7. debit,
  8. debit card,
  9. debit policy,
  10. debitage

Origin of debility

1425–75; late Middle English debylite < Middle French debilite < Latin dēbilitās, equivalent to dēbil(is) weak + -itās -ity
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for debility

British Dictionary definitions for debility

debility

noun plural -ties

weakness or infirmity
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for debility

debility

n.

early 15c., from Middle French debilite (Modern French débilité) or directly from Latin debilitatem (nominative debilitas) "a laming, crippling, weakening," from debilis "lame, disabled, crippled," figuratively "weak, helpless," from de- "from, away" (see de-) + -bilis "strength," from PIE root *bel- (see Bolshevik).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for debility

debility

[dĭ-bĭl′ĭ-tē]

n.

The state of being weak or feeble; infirmity.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.