Frailty

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfɹeɪlti/

Definitions

1. The state of being weak or fragile, including physical diminishment and moral shortcomings
2. A condition characterized by vulnerability and weakness, both in a physical context and in terms of ethical flaws
3. The quality of being physically weak or easily damaged ; a failing or weakness in character or morality

Etymology: Frailty and fragility are close cousins that took different routes into English. Both descend from the Latin "fragilis," meaning breakable or easily broken, which grew from "frangere," to break. English picked up the Latin root twice: "fragility" was borrowed more directly from Latin, while "frailty" arrived through Old French "fraileté," the form of Latin "fragilitās" that French had already softened. Linguists call such pairs doublets, two words from one source that came in by different paths. The English word "frail" entered the language earlier, as an Old French borrowing of "fraile," and in Middle English the noun "frelete" or "frailte" was formed from it. The ending "-ty" was added later, giving the modern spelling. So the word has been used for physical fragility from the start, and the moral sense of a human failing developed alongside it, which is why the same noun now covers both a weak body and a lapse of character.

Synonyms: weakness, fragility, delicacy, infirmity, vulnerability

Antonyms: strength, sturdiness, robustness, firmness, resilience