indebolire

Indebolire is an Italian verb meaning to weaken the strength, power, or effectiveness of someone or something. It can refer to physical strength, immune defenses, a position or argument, a system, or a structure. The action can be transitive (indebolire qualcosa) or intransitive when combined with the reflexive form indebolirsi to become weaker.

Etymology and usage notes: the verb derives from the adjective debole (weak) with the prefixed in-; it shares a semantic field with other terms such as debilitate and indebolimento. In Italian, indebolire is commonly used in medical, scientific, political, and everyday contexts to indicate a reduction in strength, resilience, or effectiveness.

Conjugation and forms: indebolire is a regular -ire verb that typically shows the -isc- pattern in the present indicative for all subjects (io indebolisco, tu indebolisci, lui/lei indebolisce, noi indeboliamo, voi indebolite, loro indeboliscono). The past participle is indebolito, used with auxiliary avere in most transitive tenses and with essere in certain intransitive or passive constructions (e.g., la resistenza è stata indebolita). Other common tenses follow standard -ire verb conjugation.

Related terms: indebolimento (the process of becoming weaker), indebolito (weakened; adjective/participle), and in some contexts debilitar(e) as a synonym. The concept is often contrasted with rafforzare (to strengthen).

See also: debilitare, debilitate (in Italian often used in technical or medical writing), indebolire appears in contexts ranging from health and biology to politics and economics.