Adjective

(er)

Deficient in physical strength; weak; infirm; debilitated.

Though she appeared old and feeble , she could still throw a ball.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=October 23 , author=Tom Fordyce , title=2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=France were transformed from the feeble , divided unit that had squeaked past Wales in the semi-final, their half-backs finding the corners with beautifully judged kicks from hand, the forwards making yards with every drive and a reorganised Kiwi line-out beginning to malfunction.}}

Lacking force, vigor, or efficiency in action or expression; faint.

That was a feeble excuse for an example.

Adjective

(en-adj)

Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age; very old.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War. […]’}}

Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.

* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black), title=Internal Combustion

, chapter=2 citation , passage=Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.}}

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)

, title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}

(label) Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.

(obsolete) Experienced; versed.

* Berners

Though [he] was the youngest brother, yet he was the most ancient in the business of the realm.

(obsolete) Former; sometime.

* Alexander Pope

They mourned their ancient leader lost.