débile

See also: debile

French

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-

Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *haβēō

Latin habeō

Latin debeoder.?

Proto-Indo-European *bel-der.?

Latin debilislbor.

French débile

Learned borrowing from Latin debilis. The original sense of "weak" was lost to faible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.bil/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

débile (plural débiles)

1. (obsolete) weak
2. (informal) dumb, stupid, retarded

   Synonyms: con, stupide, idiot

   Antonym: intelligent

Derived terms

• débilement
• débilité

Related terms

• habile

Noun

débile m or f (plural débiles)

1. (informal) retard

   Synonyms: débile mental, imbécile, attardé, abruti

Descendants

• → Dutch: debiel
• → Romanian: debil
• → Russian: деби́л (debíl)
  • → Armenian: դեբիլ (debil)
  • → Estonian: debiil
  • → Georgian: დებილი (debili)
  • → Hebrew: דֶּבִּילִי (debíli)
• → Turkish: debil

Further reading

• “débile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012