Word of the day! 8-12-08

Today's Word
enervate \EN-ur-vayt\, transitive verb:1. To deprive of vigor, force, or strength; to render feeble; to weaken.2. To reduce the moral or mental vigor of.

"Beatriz de Ahumada soldiered on to produce nine more children, a tour of duty that left her enervated and worn."-- Cathleen Medwick, Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul

"In countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ghana I have always felt enervated by the slightest physical or mental exertion, whereas in the UK, France, Germany or the US I have always felt reinforced and stimulated by the temperate climate, not only during long stays, but even during brief travels."-- David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations

"The tendency of abstract thought . . . to enervate the will is one of the real dangers of the highest education."-- Mark Pattison, Suggestions on Academical Organisation

"The conquerors were enervated by luxury."-- Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Enervate is from the past participle of Latin enervare, "to remove the sinews from, to weaken," from e-, ex-, "out of, from" + nervus, "sinew."