Infirmé

Infirmé is a French term formed as the past participle of the verb infirmer. It is rarely used in everyday speech and tends to appear in more formal, literary, or technical registers. When it does occur, infirmé functions as an adjective meaning that someone or something has been weakened, impaired, or rendered infirm.

Etymology and sense The word derives from Latin infirmare, meaning to weaken or to make infirm. The prefix in- gives a sense of negation or negated strength, while firmare means to make firm, so infirmé carries the opposite sense: made weak or impaired. In contemporary French, the more common vocabulary for illness or weakness remains malade or affaibli, and infirmé is thus considered specialized or archaic in many contexts.

Usage and examples Infirmé can describe a person who has become infirm due to illness or age, though such usage is uncommon today. It may also describe a state or condition that has been weakened, for example in medical or technical prose: “Après la maladie, l’ouvrage est devenu infirmé et nécessite une révision.” More typically, authors would opt for synonyms such as affaibli, affaibli, ou fragilisé. In legal or administrative language, infirmé might appear in highly formal formulations to indicate that a condition has been degraded or that an assessment is no longer valid, though these uses are rare.

See also Infirmer, infirmité, fragilité.