debilitate

Etymology

Latin debilitatus, past participle of debilitare (“to weaken, debilitate”), from the adjective debilis (“weak”), from de- + habilis (“able”) (de- + ability + -ate).

verb

1. (transitive) To make feeble; to weaken.
   The American Dream suffered a debilitating effect after the subprime crisis.
   Twice, they found themselves behind, seemingly on their way out, and on both occasions they absolutely refused to let their lack of numbers debilitate them. 12 MArch 2015, Daniel Taylor, “Chelsea out of Champions League after Thiago Silva sends 10-man PSG through on away goals”, in The Guardian (London)