Decrepitude
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /dɪˈkɹɛpɪtʃuËd/
- US IPA: /dɘˈkɹɛpɪˌtuËd/
Origin
From French décrépitude, from Old French, from Latin decrepitudo ("decrepitude").
Full definition of decrepitude
Noun
decrepitude
(countable and uncountable; plural decrepitudes)- the state of being decrepit or worn out from age or long use
- 1781, Samuel Johnson, Lives of the PoetsThere prevailed in his time an opinion, that the world was in its decay, and that we have had the misfortune to be produced in the decrepitude of nature.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas NicklebyThis was the probable destination of his sister Kate. His uncle had deceived him, and might he not consign her to some miserable place where her youth and beauty would prove a far greater curse than ugliness and decrepitude?