labefaction
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin labefaciō (labo to totter + facio to make).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
labefaction (uncountable)
- (rare) The act of shaking or weakening or the resulting state; overthrow, ruination.
- 1963, C. N. Stavrou, “Religion in Byron's Don Juan”, in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, volume 3, number 4, page 590:
- Man's labefaction did not occur in time past; nor does it wait upon time future.
- 1968, "The Casualty Loss Deduction and Consumer Expectation: Section 165(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code," The University of Chicago Law Review, vol. 36, no. 1, p. 224 (citing 54 F.2d 537 (2d Cir. 1931)),
- The court found "simply a steady labefaction from wind and weather more rapid than usual because of structural defects."
Related terms edit
Translations edit
act of shaking orweakening or the resulting state; overthrow, ruination
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References edit
- labefaction in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- “labefaction”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “labefaction”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.