debilitate

English

Etymology

Latin debilitatus, past participle of debilitare (“to weaken, debilitate”), from the adjective debilis (“weak”), from de- + habilis (“able”) (de- +‎ ability +‎ -ate).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈbɪlɪteɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /dəˈbɪləteɪt/

Verb

debilitate (third-person singular simple present debilitates, present participle debilitating, simple past and past participle debilitated)

1. (transitive) To make feeble; to weaken.

   The American Dream suffered a debilitating effect after the subprime crisis.

   • 2015 March 12, Daniel Taylor, “Chelsea out of Champions League after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals”, in The Guardian (London)‎:

     Twice, they found themselves behind, seemingly on their way out, and on both occasions they absolutely refused to let their lack of numbers debilitate them.

   Synonyms: enervate, enfeeble, weaken

Related terms

• debile
• debility
• debilitation
• debilitating

Translations

See also

• enervate

Further reading

• “debilitate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “debilitate”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Interlingua

Noun

debilitate (plural debilitates)

1. weakness

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

debilitate

1. inflection of debilitare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

debilitate f pl

1. feminine plural of debilitato

Latin

Verb

dēbilitāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēbilitō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French débilité. Equivalent to debil +‎ -itate.

Noun

debilitate f (plural debilități)

1. debility

Declension

Spanish

Verb

debilitate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of debilitar combined with te