moribund (adj.)

1721, "about to die, in a dying state," from French moribund (16c.), from Latin moribundus "dying, at the point of death," from mori "to die," from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm" (also "to die" and forming words referring to death and to beings subject to death). Figurative sense of "near an end" is from 1837. Related: Moribundity.