enervate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 3, 2011 is: enervate • \EN-er-vayt\  • verb 1 : to reduce the mental or moral vigor of 2 : to lessen the vitality or strength of Examples: Dehydration and prolonged exposure to the sun had enervated the shipwrecked crew, leaving them almost too weak to hail the passing vessel. "This is a life-saving practice because it greatly helps reduce the stress and tension that both wears our physical organism and enervates our energies, which is our life force and vitality." -- From an article by Lama Surya Das on The Huffington Post, June 4, 2011 Did you know? "Enervate" is a word that some people use without really knowing what it means. They seem to believe that because "enervate" looks a little bit like "energize" and "invigorate" it must share their meaning -- but it is actually their antonym. "Enervate" comes from the Latin word "enervare," which was formed from the prefix "e-," meaning "out of," and "-nervare" (from "nervus," meaning "sinew or nerve"). So, etymologically at least, someone who is enervated is "out of nerve." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.