Infirmity
/ɪnˈfɜːr.mə.ti/noun
Physical or mental weakness; illness or frailty.
Did you know?Infirmity comes from Latin infirmus, and the same root behind “firm” also lives in words of strength and stability, so the word itself encodes a loss of power rather than a named disease.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰer-
“to hold, support, sustain”
Latin
Latin
firmus
“strong, steady, steadfast”
Latin
Latin
infirmus
“weak, feeble, not strong”
Old French
Old French
enfermete
“weakness, illness, feebleness”
Middle English
English
infirmite
“weakness or bodily frailty”
Modern English
English
infirmity
“weakness or illness, especially of the body or mind”