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enervate

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Enervate is defined as to weaken or take away physical, mental or moral strength.

(verb)

An example of enervate is when a medication causes a person to lose their physical strength.

See enervate in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb enervated, enervating

to deprive of strength, force, vigor, etc.; weaken physically, mentally, or morally; devitalize; debilitate

Origin: < L enervatus, pp. of enervare < enervis, nerveless, weak < e-, out + nervus, nerve

adjective

enervated; weakened

Related Forms:

enervation noun
enervator noun

See enervate in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb en·er·vat·ed, en·er·vat·ing, en·er·vates

To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of: “the luxury which enervates and destroys nations” (Henry David Thoreau). See Synonyms at deplete.
Medicine To remove a nerve or part of a nerve.

adjective (ĭ-nûrˈvĭt)

Deprived of strength; debilitated.

Origin:

Origin: Latin ēnervāre, ēnervāt-

Origin: : ē-, ex-, ex-

Origin: + nervus, sinew; see (s)neəu- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms:

enˌer·vaˈtion noun

enˈer·vaˌtive adjective

enˈer·vaˌtor noun

Usage Note: Sometimes people mistakenly use enervate to mean “to invigorate” or “to excite” by assuming that this word is a close cousin of the verb energize. In fact enervate does not come from the same source as energize (Greek energos, “active”). It comes from Latin nervus, “sinew.” Thus enervate means “to cause to become ‘out of muscle’,” that is, “to weaken or deplete of strength.”

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