Search Result for "disability": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness;
- Example: "reading disability"
- Example: "hearing impairment"
[syn: disability, disablement, handicap, impairment]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

disability \dis`a*bil"i*ty\, n.; 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. [1913 Webster] Grossest faults, or disabilities to perform what was covenanted. --Milton. [1913 Webster] Chatham refused to see him, pleading his disability. --Bancroft. [1913 Webster] 2. Want of legal qualification to do a thing; legal incapacity or incompetency. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

disability n 1: the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness; "reading disability"; "hearing impairment" [syn: disability, disablement, handicap, impairment]