Pronounced: do-uh-LIT-uhr-uhl, adj
Notes: I keep thinking this should be a noun, not an adjective
Yesterday’s word
The word valetudinarian is “a person of a weak of sickly constitution; especially one whose chief concern is his ill health”
First usage
Our word came into English in the early 1700s
Background / Comments
Oddly enough, our word came from the Latin word valēre (be be strong; to be well). That Latin word gave rise to valetudo, which refers to one’s state of health — whether good or bad. When it came into English, it had the meaning above. I’m pretty sure that I have run across this word is reading, but I thought that it meant something else.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 