| Part of Speech | Definition | |
| Noun Plural | 1. Plural inflection of the noun imbecility.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
| Noun Base (imbecility) | 1. Retardation more severe than a moron but not as severe as an idiot.[Wordnet]. 2. A stupid mistake.[Wordnet]. 3. The quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, esp. of mind.[Websters]. | |
Sources: compiled from various sources, (under license) copyright 2008. | Top | |
Date "IMBECILITIES" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
Specialty Definition: imbecility
| Domain | Definition | ||
| Satire | IMBECILITY, n. A kind of divine inspiration, or sacred fire affecting censorious critics of this dictionary. Source: Devil's Dictionary | ||
| Noah Webster | [Noun] Want of strength; weakness; feebleness of body or of mind. We speak of the imbecility of the body or of the intellect, when either does not possess the usual strength and vigor that belongs to men, and which is necessary to a due performance of its functions. This may be natural, or induced by violence or disease.. Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary. | ||
| Law | IMBECILITY, med. jur. 1. A weakness of the mind, caused by the absence or obliteration of natural or acquired ideas; or it is described to be an abnormal deficiency either in those faculties which acquaint us with the qualities and ordinary relations of things, or in those which furnish us with the moral motives that regulate our relations and conduct towards our fellow men. It is frequently attended with excessive activity. of one or more of the animal propensities. 2. Imbecility differs from idiocy in this, that the subjects of the former possess some intellectual capacity, though inferior in degree to that possessed by the great mass of mankind; while those of the latter are utterly destitute of reason. Imbecility differs also from stupidity. (q.v.) The former consists in a defect of the mind, which renders it unable to examine the data presented to it by the senses, and there from to deduce the correct judgment; that is, a defect of intensity, or reflective power. The latter is occasioned by a want of intensity, or perceptive power. 3. There are various degrees of this disease. It has been attempted to classify the degrees of imbecility, but the careful observer of nature will perhaps be soon satisfied that the shades of difference between one species and another, are almost imperceptible. Ray, Med. Jur. ch. 3; 2 Beck, Med. Jur. 550, 542; 1 Hagg. Ecc. R. 384; 2 Philm. R. 449; 1 Litt. R. 252, 5 John. Ch. R. 161; 1 Litt. R. 101; Des Maladies mentales, consideres dans leurs rapports avec la legislation civille et criminelle, 8; Georget, Discussion medico-lgale sur la folie, 140. (references) | ||
| Wiktionary | [Noun] The quality of being imbecile; weakness; feebleness, especially of mind. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
