phthisis

[thahy-sis, tahy-]

noun

Pathology.

1. a wasting away.

2. pulmonary tuberculosis; consumption.

phthisis

/ ˈfθaɪ-, ˈtaɪ-, ˈθaɪsɪs /

noun

1. any disease that causes wasting of the body, esp pulmonary tuberculosis

Word History and Origins

Origin of phthisis¹

1515–25; < Greek phthísis lung disease, literally, a wasting away, equivalent to phthí ( ein ) to decay + -sis -sis

Word History and Origins

Origin of phthisis¹

C16: via Latin from Greek: a wasting away, from phthinein to waste away

Example Sentences

I then forwarded the collection to Washington as ordered except one Ogalalla skull of a young squaw that died of phthisis.

From Time

The city is full of phthisis; the insanitary conditions under which the vast majority of the inhabitants live favour its rapid dissemination.

From Project Gutenberg

A toothache produces more violent convulsions of pain than a phthisis or a dropsy.

From Project Gutenberg

We must take the world as we find it, full of men and women predisposed to tubercular phthisis, and with no idea of its contagious nature.

From Project Gutenberg

In other cases the appearance of the hemorrhagic lesions seems to be due to a dyscrasia, such as that recognized in phthisis, chronic alcoholism, and h�mophilia.

From Project Gutenberg