pterygium

American  

[tuh-rij-ee-uhm] / təˈrɪdʒ i əm /

noun

Ophthalmology.

plural

pterygiums, pterygia

1. an abnormal triangular mass of thickened conjunctiva extending over the cornea and interfering with vision.

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Other Word Forms

• pterygial adjective

Etymology

Origin of pterygium

1650–60; < New Latin < Greek pterýgion little wing or fin, equivalent to pteryg- (stem of ptéryx ) wing, fin + -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

Salome is explaining a traditional cure for pterygium, an eye affliction common to the tropics in which vision gradually becomes obscured as a layer of tissue encroaches over the cornea.

From Time Magazine Archive

In some cases, however, it has been found that after removal of a large pterygium, a retraction of the caruncle and the semilunar fold is apt to take place, which renders the eyeball unpleasantly prominent.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Bell, Joseph

Connected with diseases of the eye, pterygium is common; not only single, but double, triple, and even quadruple are occasionally met with.

From Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before by Turner, George