debilito

Forms

dēbilitō (present infinitive dēbilitāre, perfect active dēbilitāvī, supine dēbilitātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from dēbilis (“crippled, weak”) with the suffix -itō, like nōbilitō (“to make famous”).^[2][1] De Vaan explains ⟨dēbilis⟩ as a compound of the type ⟨inermis⟩ “unarmed”, “without strength”, from Proto-Italic *dē-be/oli- and a noun Proto-Indo-European *bel-o- (“strength, power”), cognate with Sanskrit बल (bála-, “strength, power”) and Ancient Greek βέλτερος (bélteros, “better”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Early examples are in Varro, of a fear meant to unnerve our men, and in Cicero, of a line of verse spoiled wherever it stumbles.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to lame, cripple or maim, as the gladiators who were crippled in Gaius' Institutes, and to deprive of strength, weaken or disable, as in Livy; of things it is to weaken or impair, as Cicero's faulty line of verse.^[2][4][1] It is to weaken the mind or will and take away the power to act, as Varro's fear, and to deprive of political power, as Cicero's men who thought they would crush the consul once he was unarmed and weakened.^[2][4]

Church Latin glosses it “weaken”.^[5] English debilitate (1530s) is from its participle dēbilitātus.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of a fear that unnerves.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a weakened verse and a weakened consul.^[2][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of physical weakness.^[2][7]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius of crippled gladiators.^[4][7]
• 1530s – English debilitate is from its participle.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lame, cripple, maim.^[4][1]
2. To weaken, disable, debilitate; to impair.^[2][4][1][5]
3. To unnerve, weaken in mind; to deprive of power.^[2][4][1]

Word family

• dēbilitātiō

Related words

• dēbilis
• dēbilitās
• English debilitate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de