Atrophy Definition
ătrə-fē
atrophied, atrophies, atrophying
noun
atrophies
A wasting away, esp. of bodily tissue, an organ, etc., or the failure of an organ or part to grow or develop, as because of insufficient nutrition.
Webster's New World
A wasting away, deterioration, or diminution.
Intellectual atrophy.
American Heritage
A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use.
Muscular atrophy.
American Heritage Medicine
verb
atrophied, atrophies, atrophying
To cause to wither or deteriorate; affect with atrophy.
American Heritage
To waste away or fail to develop.
Webster's New World
To cause atrophy in.
Webster's New World
To waste away; wither or deteriorate.
American Heritage
To waste away; wither or deteriorate; undergo atrophy.
American Heritage Medicine
Other Word Forms of Atrophy
Noun
Singular:
atrophy
Plural:
atrophiesOrigin of Atrophy
-
From French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophia, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (atrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophē, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (trephō, “I fatten”).
From Wiktionary
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Late Latin atrophia from Greek atrophiā from atrophos ill-nourished a- without a–1 trophē food
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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