Disabled

How to spell disabled

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce disabled

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does disabled mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a physical or mental condition that limits movement, senses, or activities.
2. verbPast tense of disable: switched off or made inoperative.

Disabled in a sentence

• adjective

  The office added a ramp so that disabled visitors could reach the lobby.

• verb

  The technician disabled the alarm before opening the panel.

• adjective

  The parking bay near the entrance is reserved for disabled drivers.

• verb

  A software update accidentally disabled the printer last week.

Where does disabled come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built from the verb 'disable', which combines the Latin-derived prefix 'dis-', meaning 'not' or 'the reverse of', with 'able'. 'Able' itself reaches English through Old French from the Latin habilis, which literally meant 'easy to hold or handle' and so came to mean 'fit, capable, suited'. When the prefix was added in the late 1400s, 'disable' meant to take away capacity or fitness, and the past form 'disabled' described something rendered incapable or out of action. Over time the adjective settled into two everyday uses: machinery or systems switched off and made inoperative, and people living with a physical or mental impairment. The spelling trap is quiet: writers must remember the single 's' in 'dis-' and the silent 'e' of 'able' surviving into 'disabled'.

How the word is built

• dis- (not, reversal)
• able (from Latin habilis: easy to handle, fit)
• -ed (past participle / adjective suffix)