- disability
- disability dis`a*bil"i*ty, n.; 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.
[1913 Webster]
Grossest faults, or disabilities to perform what was covenanted. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster]
2. Want of legal qualification to do a thing; legal incapacity or incompetency. [1913 Webster]
The disabilities of idiocy, infancy, and coverture. --Abbott.
Syn: Weakness; inability; incompetence; impotence; incapacity; incompetency; disqualification.
Usage: -- {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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
