Crossword Dictionary
ENFEEBLe
enfeeble, debilitate, drain - v
make weak; "Life in the camp drained him"
Synonyms
attenuate, blunt, cripple, debilitate, deplete, devitalize, diminish, disable, exhaust, fatigue, incapacitate, sap, undermine, unhinge, unnerve, weaken
Examples
The axial ribs become much enfeebled as they pass over the basal keel and are almost obsolete on the spaces anterior to it.
From the 17th century onwards, the empire entered into a long-term period of stagnation, during which the sultans were much enfeebled.
Opportunistic infections occur in weakened patients: patients who are immune compromised, patients who are traumatized or enfeebled by chronic disease.
Etymology
"to cause to weaken, deprive of strength," mid-14c., from Old French enfeblir "become weak," from en- (see en- (1)) + feble (see feeble). Related: Enfeebled; enfeebling; enfeeblement.
en- (1)
word-forming element meaning "in; into," from French and Old French en-, from Latin in- "in, into" (from PIE root *en "in"). Typically assimilated before -p-, -b-, -m-, -l-, and -r-. Latin in- became en- in French, Spanish, Portuguese, but remained in- in Italian.
feeble (adj.)
late 12c., "lacking strength or vigor" (physical, moral, or intellectual), from Old French feble "weak, feeble" (12c., Modern French faible), a dissimilation of Latin flebilis "lamentable," literally "that is to be wept over," from flere "weep, cry, shed tears, lament" (from PIE *bhle- "to howl;" see bleat (v.)). The first -l- was lost in Old French. The noun meaning "feeble person" is recorded from mid-14c.