The story
- Anglo-Normanfeble
- Middle Englishfeble
- English todayfeeble
From Middle English feble, from Anglo-Norman feble (“weak, feeble”) (compare French faible), from Latin flēbilis (“tearful, mournful, lamentable”) by dissimilation, from fleō (“to weep, cry”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-. Doublet of foible.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₁- all →
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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.