different between dwindle vs debilitate

English

Etymology

Frequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwinen, from Old English dw?nan (“to waste away”), equivalent to dwine +? -le, akin to Old Norse dvena/dvína (Danish tvine (“to pine away”), Dutch verdwijnen (“to disappear, dwindle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?dw?n.d?l/
• Rhymes: -?nd?l

Verb

dwindle (third-person singular simple present dwindles, present participle dwindling, simple past and past participle dwindled)

1. (intransitive) To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
   • 1802, T. Paynell (translator), Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace

     [E]very thing that was improving gradually degenerates and dwindles away to nothing, […]

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
   • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, Vicar, III

     The flattery of his friends began to dwindle into simple approbation.

   • 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress

     The larger the empire, the more dwindles the mind of the citizen.
3. (transitive) To lessen; to bring low.

   • Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought.

4. To break up or disperse.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• windled

English

Etymology

Latin debilitatus, past participle of debilitare (“to weaken, debilitate”), from the adjective debilis (“weak”), from de- + habilis (“able”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??b?l?te?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /d??b?l?te?t/

Verb

debilitate (third-person singular simple present debilitates, present participle debilitating, simple past and past participle debilitated)

1. (transitive) To make feeble; to weaken.

   The American Dream suffered a debilitating effect after the subprime crisis.

   Synonyms: enervate, enfeeble, weaken

Related terms

• debile
• debility
• debilitation
• debilitating

Translations

See also

• enervate

Further reading

• debilitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• debilitate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Interlingua

Noun

debilitate (plural debilitates)

1. weakness

Italian

Verb

debilitate

1. second-person plural present indicative of debilitare
2. second-person plural imperative of debilitare
3. feminine plural of debilitato

Latin

Verb

d?bilit?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of d?bilit?

Romanian

Etymology

From French débilité

Noun

debilitate f (plural debilit??i)

1. debility

Declension