disability

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from dis- and ability.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Want of power or ability: 1545 in MWU, the 1570s in Etymonline;^[4][2] the OED has an instance of incapacity from 1580.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Lack of money was a 17th-century sense (1624).^[6] Incapacity in the eyes of the law, a legal restriction, is from 1641, the 1640s in Etymonline.^[6][2] The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, distinguished disability, a loss of power, from inability, an inherent want of power.^[2] A physical or mental condition that limits movement, the senses or activities is now the main sense.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1545 – lack of ability.^[4]
• 1624 – lack of means.^[6]
• 1641 – a legal incapacity.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses or activities.
2. A disadvantage or handicap.
3. (law) Legal incapacity to act.

Word family

• developmental disability
• learning disability

Related words

• disable
• disabled
• ability
• inability

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin