atrophy
A reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of useA reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Being in outer space atrophies your muscles.
acell · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(countable, uncountable)A reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use.
Atrophie
атрофи́яatrofíja
атрофі́яatrofíja
a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
Examples
4 sentencesBeing in outer space atrophies your muscles.
Astronauts' muscles atrophy when they spend a long time in zero gravity.
The muscles in his legs had atrophied during the seven months he was bedridden.
deDie Muskeln seiner Beine haben sich in den sieben Monaten der Bettlägrigkeit zurückgebildet. — Dorothea
Don't let your muscles atrophy.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía,Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “to fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: atrophiesSynonyms
3 synonymsWord family
14 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.