scurvy
A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of…A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease.
» Tom has scurvy.
Tom hat Skorbut. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
У Тома цинга. — Wezel
Spamster · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(uncountable, usually)A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease.
Skorbut, Scharbock
ско́рбутskórbut, цинга́cingá
(countable, derogatory, figuratively, usually)A contemptible or despicable person.
(broadly, obsolete, uncountable, usually)A cattle disease, perhaps affecting the skin.
- a condition caused by deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
Examples
14 sentencesTom has scurvy.
ruУ Тома цинга. — Wezel
deTom hat Skorbut. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Make sure you don't get scurvy.
The poor sailors suffered from scurvy.
ruБедные моряки страдали от цинги. — marafon
We'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an orange.
To fight scurvy, we added rose hips and black currant syrup to our food.
ruЧтобы бороться с цингой, мы в пищу добавляли плоды шиповника, сироп чёрной смородины. — AqQoyriq_1
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English scurvi, scurvy, variants of scurfi (“havThe adjective is derived from Late Middle English scurvi, scurvy, variants of scurfi (“having scurf, scabby”), from scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”) + -i (suffix forming adjectives). Scurf is derived from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). By surface analysis, scurf (“skin disease; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease; crust-like formations on the skin”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).
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Forms
plural: scurviesSynonyms
6 synonyms- a condition caused by deficiency of ascorbic acid (vitamin C):scorbutus
Word family
7 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable