In brief: Domicile, exaltation, triplicity, bounds, and face are distinct traditional dignity schemes; detriment and fall are related debility labels.
What is being classified
Essential dignity asks how a planet is placed by zodiac sign or degree under a chosen traditional table. Domicile means a planet occupies a sign it rules, such as the Moon in Cancer. Exaltation gives another traditional assignment, such as the Moon in Taurus. Triplicity, terms or bounds, and faces or decans divide rulership more finely. These categories record the internal rules of astrological traditions, not a measured physical strength.
Debility and context
Detriment commonly denotes the sign opposite domicile; fall denotes the sign opposite exaltation. A planet can hold more than one classification across the several dignity layers. Historical authors assigned different weights to the layers, and modern readers often use only some of them. An article that calls a placement simply “weak” hides both the table used and other chart conditions. Position near an angle, aspects, visibility, and sect are separate questions.
A concrete comparison
Consider Mars at 27° Capricorn. Capricorn is traditionally Mars’s exaltation sign, while the exact degree may also fall under a particular bounds ruler or face ruler depending on which table is selected. Saying “Mars is exalted” identifies the sign-level convention. It does not tell the reader its house, whether Mars is above or below the local horizon, or how closely it aspects another planet. Those require more chart data.
Several layers can apply at once
The selected zodiac and rulership table determine each dignity scheme. Domicile and exaltation operate at sign level, while bounds and faces use degree subdivisions. Accidental factors such as house, angle, motion, and aspects add separate information and cannot be reduced to an unexplained score. These symbolic labels do not establish someone’s ability, moral quality, health, or future.