Etymology and origin of the English word invalid
invalid1 not valid
Pronunciation
- /ɪnˈvæl.ɪd/[1]
Etymology
The adjective meaning “not valid” is borrowed from Latin invalidus (“not strong, infirm, weak, inadequate”),[2][3][4][5] made of in- (“not”) and validus (“strong”),[2][3] from valeō (“to be strong”),[6] the source of valid;[7] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *wal- (“to be strong”).[3] Johnson (1755) gave both French invalide and the Latin word as its source.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
The first dates differ: Merriam-Webster dates the sense "without foundation in truth" to 1542, and the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date the adjective to the mid-16th century, earlier than valid;[9][10][11] the OED's first quotation is from 1635, meaning "weak, feeble", and Barnhart and Etymonline also date it to the 1630s.[2][4][3]
Semantic evolution
The Latin sense "weak" did not last: the OED records it from 1635 to 1822.[2] The sense "of no force or cogency", especially "without legal force, void", is recorded from 1643,[2][10] and Johnson (1755) defined the word as "weak; of no weight or cogency", quoting Milton.[8] A verb invalid, "to make invalid", is recorded from 1643, in Prynne,[2] and is now rare or archaic;[10][9] invalidate followed in 1649, probably influenced by invalider.[4]
Timeline
- 1542 – without foundation in truth.[9]
- 1635 – weak, feeble (obsolete).[2][4]
- 1643 – of no force; void in law.[2]
- 1643 – verb: to invalidate.[2]
- 1649 – invalidate.[4]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Having no legal force; void: The contract was invalid because it was never signed.
- Not well founded; not logical or true: an invalid inference.
Verb
- (archaic) To make invalid; to invalidate.
Word family
- invalidity
- invalidly
- invalidate
invalid2 sick person
Pronunciation
- /ˈɪn.və.lɪd/, /ˈɪn.vəˌliːd/[1]
Etymology
The adjective and noun meaning “infirm, disabled by illness” are the same Latin adjective, borrowed from Latin invalidus, with the pronunciation changed after French invalide (“sickly, infirm”), recorded from 1549.[2][6][4] The OED notes that early pronouncing dictionaries, such as Bailey's (1727), still stress it on the second syllable, so that it seems to have begun as a special sense of invalid1, conformed to the French stress in the 18th century and only rarely to the French spelling;[2] Weekley and Hoad say the same.[12][13] Barnhart thinks the noun came perhaps through French, and certainly under its influence,[4] and Klein derives it from French.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Infirm from sickness, disabled by illness or injury: 1642, in Jeremy Taylor's Of Sacred Order Episcopacy.[2][4][9]
Semantic evolution
The noun is first recorded in 1707 for a soldier or sailor disabled for active service, often employed on garrison duty,[2][4] and it has been used since 1709, in the Tatler, for any weak or sickly person;[2][4][3] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1701.[9] The Invalides, the home for old and disabled soldiers in Paris, is mentioned from a1721.[2][3] The noun was used figuratively of anything damaged or worn from 1860,[2] and attributively, as in invalid chair and invalid carriage, from 1822.[2] A verb followed: in 1787 Nelson used it for putting a sailor on the sick list or discharging him from service; since 1803 it has also meant to disable by illness.[2][9] The adjective is now used only as the noun in attributive position.[2]
Timeline
- 1642 – infirm, disabled by illness.[2][4]
- 1707 – a disabled soldier or sailor.[2][4]
- 1709 – a sickly person.[2][4][3]
- 1787 – verb: to discharge from service as unfit.[2][9]
- 1822 – attributive: invalid carriage.[2]
- 1860 – figuratively, something damaged or worn.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A person made weak or disabled by long illness or injury.
- (archaic) A member of the armed forces unfit for active duty through illness or injury.
Adjective
- Weakened or disabled by illness; also, for the use of such people: an invalid chair.
Verb
- (chiefly British) To remove someone from active service because of illness or injury, usually as invalid out: He was invalided out of the navy.
- To disable by illness or injury, usually in the passive.
Word family
- invalidism
- invalidhood
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
- ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Related etymologies
- archbishop · also from Latin
- predecessor · also from Latin
- deliberate · also from Latin
- applause · also from Latin
- endure · also from Latin
- pardon · also from Latin
- notorious · also from Latin
- vagina · also from Latin
Cite this entry
“Invalid.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/invalid. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
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