Disability

How to spell disability

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce disability

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disability mean?

1. nounA physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

Disability in a sentence

• The office was redesigned to support staff with any form of disability.

• He claimed a monthly benefit because his disability prevented him from working.

Where does disability come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built from the prefix dis-, meaning 'not' or 'the reverse of', attached to 'ability', which descends from the Latin habilitas, meaning 'aptness' or 'fitness', itself from habilis, 'easily handled' or 'suitable', and ultimately from habere, 'to hold or have'. English formed 'disability' in the sixteenth century, originally meaning a general lack of ability, power, or legal capacity to act. Over time the sense narrowed toward a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities. The spelling preserves the single s of dis- followed by the a of ability, which is the usual trap: there is only one s and no double letters. Its close cousin 'ability' shares the same Latin root habere that also gave English 'habit' and 'able'.

How the word is built

• dis- (not, opposite of)
• abil(ity) (from Latin habilitas: aptness, fitness)
• -ity (noun, state of being)