Etymograph

English

affeeble

Affeeble comes from Old French afeblir ‘to weaken’, from Latin ad ‘to, towards’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd1‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad1‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad2‘to, towards’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400afeblir3‘to weaken’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affeeble3
  6. Englishtodayaffeeble3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ad
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin ad-
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English affeeble

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂édWiktionary, Latin ad‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*adWiktionary, Latin ad‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadWiktionary, Latin ad-‘to, towards’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400afeblirWiktionary, English affeeble‘to weaken’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500affeebleWiktionary, English affeeble
  6. EnglishtodayaffeebleWiktionary, English affeeble

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

at, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

appointee, 15 more

through Latin ad ‘to, towards’

ad, agree, aim, appoint, await, attire, amortization, adage, accolade, adulation, alliteration, adroit, apportion, affix, adobo, apres, affine, 19 more

Today it means

verb To enfeeble.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “affeeble”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ad, Latin ad-. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd / affeeble

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