debilis

Latin

Etymology

• From dē- +‎ habilis. See the same contraction in dēbeō.
• Others suggest from dē- + Proto-Indo-European *bel- (“power, strength”). Compare Sanskrit बल (bala), Russian большой (bolʹšoj), Ancient Greek βελτίων (beltíōn, “better < stronger”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdeː.bi.lis/, [ˈd̪eːbɪlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈde.bi.lis/, [ˈd̪ɛːbilis]

Adjective

dēbilis (neuter dēbile, comparative dēbilior, superlative dēbilissimus); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. weak, frail, feeble

   Synonyms: languidus, fractus, aeger, mollis, fessus, tenuis, īnfirmus, inops, obnoxius

   Antonyms: praevalēns, fortis, potis, potēns, validus, strēnuus, compos

   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.13:

     Ita est utraque rēs sine alterā dēbilis.

     Thus each is feeble without the other.

2. lame, disabled, crippled, infirm, debilitated

   Synonym: claudus

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	dēbilis	dēbile		dēbilēs	dēbilia
Genitive	dēbilis			dēbilium
Dative	dēbilī			dēbilibus
Accusative	dēbilem	dēbile		dēbilēs dēbilīs	dēbilia
Ablative	dēbilī			dēbilibus
Vocative	dēbilis	dēbile		dēbilēs	dēbilia

Derived terms

• dēbilitās

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian
  • Corsican: debuli
  • Dalmatian: débol
  • Istriot: dibalo, dibulo
  • Italian: debole
  • Sicilian: dèbbuli, dèbuli, dèbbili, dèbili
• Eastern Romance
  • Romanian: debil
• Old French: débile
  • Middle French: débile
    • French: débile
      • → Russian: деби́л (debíl)
        • → Armenian: դեբիլ (debil)
        • → Georgian: დებილი (debili)
      • → Turkish: debil
    • → English: debile
• Old Occitan:
  • Catalan: dèbil
  • Occitan: debil
• Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulian: debul
  • Romansch: debel
• Sardinian: débbile, débbili, díbbile
• Venetian: debol, debole, debolo, debełe
  • → Cimbrian: débel
• West Iberian
  • Asturian: débil
  • Old Galician-Portuguese:
    • Galician: débil
    • Portuguese: débil
• → Albanian: debil
• → Czech: debil
• → Danish: debil
• → Georgian: დებილი (debili)
• → German: debil
• → Italian: debile
• → Macedonian: дебил (debil)
• → Polish: debil
• → Spanish: débil
  • Chavacano: debil
• → Swedish: debil

References

• “debilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “debilis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• debilis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• debilis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.