Hypertext Webster Gateway: "decrepit"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Decrepit \De*crep"it\, a. [L. decrepitus, perhaps orig., noised
out, noiseless, applied to old people, who creep about
quietly; de- + crepare to make a noise, rattle: cf. F.
d['e]cr['e]pit. See {Crepitate}.]
Broken down with age; wasted and enfeebled by the infirmities
of old age; feeble; worn out. ``Beggary or decrepit age.''
--Milton.
Already decrepit with premature old age. --Motley.
Note: Sometimes incorrectly written decrepid.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
decrepit
adj 1: worn and broken down by hard use; "a creaky shack"; "a
decrepit bus...its seats held together with friction
tape"; "a flea-bitten sofa"; "a run-down
neighborhood"; "a woebegone old shack" [syn: {creaky},
{flea-bitten}, {run-down}, {woebegone}]
2: lacking physical strength or vitality; "a feeble old woman";
"her body looked sapless" [syn: {feeble}, {infirm}, {sapless},
{weak}, {weakly}]
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