Dictionary

debility en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /dɪˈbɪlɪti/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English debylite, from Old French debilité (French débilité), from Latin dēbilitās (“weakness”), from dēbilis (“weak”), from dē- + habilis (“able”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A state of physical or mental weakness.
   • As I was in a state of extreme debility, I resolved to sail directly towards the town, as a place where I could most easily procure nourishment. […] I was ready to sink from fatigue and hunger, but being surrounded by a crowd, I thought it politic to rouse all my strength, that no physical debility might be construed into apprehension or conscious guilt. 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:
   • At the mention of money Mrs Dibble was overcome with great debility, and wheezed, "I don't feel up to talking about money, matters just now, dearie. I think I better have a bit of a doze." 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 43:
   • […] and is the onlie laſt remedie for all debilities which haue long vexed the body through a hote diſtemper of the Lever, ſuch as a hote Gutte; it allayeth all Inflamations inward & outward. 1618, Patri[c]k Anderson, The Colde Spring of Kinghorne Craig […], Edinburgh: Thomas Finlason, unnumbered page:
   • I was struck besides with the shocking expression of his face, with his remarkable combination of great muscular activity and great apparent debility of constitution 1886, Robert Louis Stephenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
   • […] for how could a class that was kept in a state of ignorance and debility, humiliated, illiterate, and condemned to exhausting labour, find the strength to bring about a universal revolution and restore the lost humanity of mankind? 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 373:

Forms

Relateds

debilitate · debilitation · debile

Translations (25)

uk сла́бкість (state of weakness) · fa ناتوانی (state of weakness) · ru не́мощь (state of weakness) · bg немощ (state of weakness) · ru деграда́ция (state of weakness) · la debilitas (state of weakness) · fr fatigue (state of weakness) · pt debilidade (state of weakness) · ota درمانسزلق (state of weakness) · hi दुर्बलता (state of weakness) · bg безсилие (state of weakness) · uk сла́бість (state of weakness) · ru бесси́лие (state of weakness) · ota ضعیفلق (state of weakness) · fa عجز (state of weakness) · hi निर्बलता (state of weakness) · ja 衰弱 (state of weakness) · fr débilité (state of weakness) · uk безси́лля (state of weakness) · la infirmitas (state of weakness) · hi शिथिलता (state of weakness) · ga laige (state of weakness) · pl osłabienie (state of weakness) · ru сла́бость (state of weakness) · es debilidad (state of weakness)