Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Feeble-minded \Fee"ble-mind"ed\, a.
Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy;
irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. ``comfort the
feeble-minded.''
--1 Thess. v. 14. -- Fee"ble-mind"ed*ness,
n.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; lacking intelligence; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile.
Wikipedia
The term feeble-minded was used from the late nineteenth century in Great Britain, Europe and the United States for disorders later referred to as illnesses or deficiencies of the mind.
At the time, mental deficiency encompassed all degrees of educational and social deficiency. Within the concept of mental deficiency, researchers established a hierarchy, ranging from idiocy, at the most severe end of the scale; to imbecility, at the median point; and to feeble-mindedness at the highest end of functioning. The latter was conceived of as a form of high-grade mental deficiency.
The development of the ranking system of mental deficiency has been attributed to Sir Charles Trevelyan in 1876, and was associated with the rise of eugenics. The term and hierarchy had been used in that sense at least ten years previously. "Wild card" terms outside the established hierarchy such as idiot savant, may have been used as connotations for varying degrees of autism.
Usage examples of "feeble-minded".
All experiments liable to cause discomfort or distress, made without purpose of definite individual benefit upon the insane, the feeble-minded, the aged and infirm or upon other unfortunate human beings, who, for any reason, are incapable of giving an intelligent consent or of adequately comprehending what is done to them.
Revolutionary War a young man, known in the history as Martin Kallikak, had a son by a nameless, feeble-minded girl, from whom there have descended in the direct line four hundred and eighty individuals.
Furthermore, most of the feeble-minded cases in institutions, where the Mendelian studies have usually been made, come from families which are themselves of a low grade of mentality.
As regards the suggestion that sterilization may lead to new foci of venereal disease, it must be borne in mind that the unsterilized feeble-minded are already prone to sexual promiscuity, and there is no evidence that sterilization would increase this tendency.
So she apologized profusely and Clarend finally ended his tirade against careless, derelict, wanton, blase, feeble-minded, lack-witted singers and their sins, errors and shame.
He has bred out criminals and the feeble-minded, he has impressed his native English on every tongue, he has built Urbs, the vast, glittering, brilliant, wicked world capital, and there he rules with his sister, Margaret of Urbs,, beside him.