impair
Meanings
verb
- To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
- To grow worse; to deteriorate.
adj
- Not fit or appropriate; unsuitable.
noun
- The act of impairing or deteriorating.
- The fact of being impaired or having grown worse.
- An impairment or deterioration.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English impairen, empeiren, from Old French empeirier, from Early Medieval Latin impeiōrāre, from in- + Late Latin peiōrāre (“worsen”), from peiōrem (“worse”), comparative of malus (“bad”).
Synonyms
Related words
Derived words
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.