able-bodied

The compound adjective "able-bodied" is a relatively modern English formation, first attested in the early 17th century. It combines the native English word "able," which traces back through Old French to the Latin habilis (meaning "handy, suitable, fit"), with "bodied," derived from "body" (from Old English bodig). The term originally and literally described someone possessing a body capable of work or service. Its logic is transparent: an "able" (fit, capable) person in terms of their "body" (physical form). This literal meaning solidified into a specific legal and social category, particularly used to designate those physically fit for labor or military service, in contrast to the infirm, disabled, or otherwise incapable.

Structure: able (having the power) + bodied (having a body) - able: From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin habilis ("easily handled, apt"). In this compound, it functions with the sense of "having the power, capacity, or qualification". - bodied: From Middle English bodied, past participle of bodien ("to embody"). It functions as an adjective-forming suffix meaning "having a (specified kind of) body".