rachitis
English
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British physician Francis Glisson (1597–1677)[1] to refer to rickets, from Koine Greek ῥαχῖτις (rhakhîtis) (in ῥαχῖτις νόσος (rhakhîtis nósos, “spinal inflammation”, literally “spinal disease”)), the feminine form of ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs, “in or of the spine, spinal”), from Ancient Greek ῥάχῐς (rhákhĭs, “lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”) (probably ultimately Pre-Greek) + -ῖτις (-îtis) (feminine form of -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming nouns with the sense ‘one connected to’)).[2] By surface analysis, rachi- + -itis.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹəˈkaɪtɪs/, /ɹæ-/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɹəˈkaɪtɪs/, [-ɾɪs]
- Rhymes: -aɪtɪs
- Hyphenation: rach‧i‧tis
Noun
rachitis (uncountable)
- (pathology) Rickets.
- Synonym: rachitism
- (botany) A disease that produces abortion in the flower, seed, or fruit.
Derived terms
Translations
rickets — see rickets
References
- ^ In De rachitide sive morbo puerili: qui vulgò the rickets dicitur, tractatus; […] [Of Rachitis or the Disease of Children: Which is Commonly Called the Rickets, Treated; […]], London: Typis Guil. Du-gardi; impensis Laurentii Sadler, & Roberti Beaumont […] [printed by William Dugard; at the expense of Laurence Sadler, & Robert Beaumont […]], 1650, →OCLC.
- ^ “rachitis, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024; “rachitis, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.