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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
disability \dis'a*bil"i*ty\, noun; pl. {Disabilities}.
1. State of being disabled; deprivation or want of ability; absence of competent physical, intellectual, or moral power, means, fitness, and the like.
Grossest faults, or disabilities to perform what was covenanted. --Milton.
Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability. --Bancroft.
2. Want of legal qualification to do a thing; legal incapacity or incompetency.
The disabilities of idiocy, infancy, and coverture. --Abbott.
Syn: Weakness; inability; incompetence; impotence; incapacity; incompetency; disqualification.
Usage: -- {Disability}, {Inability}. Inability is an inherent want of power to perform the thing in question; disability arises from some deprivation or loss of the needed competency. One who becomes deranged is under a disability of holding his estate; and one who is made a judge, of deciding in his own case. A man may decline an office on account of his inability to discharge its duties; he may refuse to accept a trust or employment on account of some disability prevents him from entering into such engagements.
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |