incapacity

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˌɪnkəˈpæsəti/ UK /ˌɪnkəˈpæsəti/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
inability to do something, or legal disqualification from acting

Illness left her in a state of complete incapacity for weeks.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · inability to do something,... inability incapability incompetence disability powerlessness disqualification

Opposites

capacity ability capability

Word family

Related forms capacity incapacitate capacious

Simplified etymology

Incapacity is recorded from the early 17th century, belongs to the family of Latin capere ‘take or hold’, and originally expressed inability to hold.

Etymology

From in- ('not') + capacity, from Latin capacitas ('ability to hold'), from capax ('able to hold'), from capere ('to take, hold').

capacitas Latin capere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# incapacity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌɪnkəˈpæsəti/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌɪnkəˈpæsəti/

## Meanings
1. inability to do something, or legal disqualification from acting

## Examples
- Illness left her in a state of complete incapacity for weeks.

## Synonyms
- inability
- incapability
- incompetence
- disability
- powerlessness
- disqualification

## Antonyms
- capacity
- ability
- capability

## Related Forms
- capacity
- incapacitate
- capacious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: capacitas
- Root: capere

## Etymology
From in- ('not') + capacity, from Latin capacitas ('ability to hold'), from capax ('able to hold'), from capere ('to take, hold').

## AI Etymology
incapacity comes from in- ('not') + capacity, from Latin capacitas ('ability to hold'), from capax ('able to hold'), from capere ('to take, hold'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the noun sense is "inability to do something, or legal disqualification from acting", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as capacity, incapacitate, and capacious. Its semantic neighborhood includes inability, incapability, incompetence, and disability, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin capacitas and Latin capere.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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