decrepitude

/dɪˈkɹɛpɪtʃuːd/

Etymology

From Middle French décrépitude, from Old French, from Latin dēcrepitūdō (“decrepitude”).

decrepitude means the state of being decrepit or worn out from age or long use. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.

Why this word is great

DECREPITUDE — [Noun] The state of being decrepit, worn out, or broken down, especially from age or long use. From Middle French décrépitude, from Latin dēcrepitūdō, from dēcrepitus ("very old, decrepit"), from dē- ("utterly") + crepitus, past participle of crepāre ("to crack, creak"). Unlike "senility," which narrows to the mind's faltering, or "dilapidation," which fixes on structural neglect, decrepitude is the holistic and sentient decay of any system—body, building, or institution—undone by the cumulative friction of time. It is the arthritic groan of an oak staircase underfoot, the rust-weeping hinge that will no longer close, and the paper-thin skin stretched over a bird-like wrist; a quiet, percussive music of things that have creakingly endured, and are now being patiently worn away into the same, crumbling language.

noun

The state of being decrepit or worn out from age or long use.“There prevailed in his time an opinion, that the world was in its decay, and that we have had the misfortune to be produced in the decrepitude of nature.”