Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
disability
disˊa-bil′i-ty
,Noun.
pl.
Disabilities
. 1.
State of being disabled; deprivation or want of ability; absence of competent physical, intellectual, or moral power, means, fitness, and the like.
Grossest faults, or
disabilities
to perform what was covenanted. Milton.
Chatham refused to see him, pleading his
disability
. Bancroft.
2.
Want of legal qualification to do a thing; legal incapacity or incompetency.
Syn. – Weakness; inability; incompetence; impotence; incapacity; incompetency; disqualification.
–
Disability
, Inability
. Inability is an inherent want of power to perform the thing in question; disability arises from some deprivation or loss of the needed competency. One who becomes deranged is under a disability of holding his estate; and one who is made a judge, of deciding in his own case. A man may decline an office on account of his inability to discharge its duties; he may refuse to accept a trust or employment on account of some disability prevents him from entering into such engagements. Webster 1828 Edition
Disability
DISABILITY
,Noun.
1.
Want of competent natural or bodily power, strength or ability; weakness; impotence; as disability arising from infirmity or broken limbs.2.
Want of competent intellectual power or strength of mind; incapacity; as the disability of a deranged person to reason or to make contracts.3.
Want of competent means or instruments. [In this sense, inability is generally used.]4.
Want of legal qualifications; incapacity; as a disability to inherit an estate, when the ancestor has been attainted. [In this sense, it has a plural.] Disability differs from inability, in denoting deprivation of ability; whereas inability denotes destitution of ability, either by deprivation or otherwise.
Definition 2024
disability
disability
English
Noun
disability (usually uncountable, plural disabilities)
- State of being disabled; deprivation or want of ability; absence of competent physical, intellectual, or moral power, means, fitness, and the like.
- (Can we date this quote?), John Milton
- Grossest faults, or disabilities to perform what was covenanted.
- (Can we date this quote?), George Bancroft
- Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability.
- (Can we date this quote?), John Milton
- A mental condition causing a difficulty with an intellectual task.
- Dyscalculia is math disability.
- Want of legal qualification to do a thing; legal incapacity or incompetency.
- (Can we date this quote?), Benjamin Vaughan Abbott.
- The disabilities of idiocy, infancy, and coverture.
- (Can we date this quote?), Benjamin Vaughan Abbott.
- (uncountable, informal) Regular payments received by a disabled person, usually from the state
- I had to go on disability after the accident.
- Did you get your disability this month?
Usage notes
- Disability and inability: Inability is an inherent want of power to perform the thing in question; disability arises from some deprivation or loss of the needed competency. One who becomes deranged is under a disability of holding his estate; and one who is made a judge, of deciding in his own case. A man may decline an office on account of his inability to discharge its duties; he may refuse to accept a trust or employment on account of some disability prevents him from entering into such engagements.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
absence of physical, intellectual, or moral fitness
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legal incapacity or incompetency
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regular payments received by a disabled person
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