1. To weaken or to destroy the strength or vitality of.
2. To deprive of strength; to debilitate.

Sometimes people mistakenly use enervate with the meaning "to invigorate" or "to excite". Too many people assume that this word is a close cousin of the verb energize.

In fact enervate does not come from the same source as "energize" which is from Greek energos, "active". It actually comes from Latin nervus, "sinew" and so enervate means "to cause to become out of muscle"; that is, "to weaken" or "to deplete of strength".

© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.