atrophy

Definitions


[ˈatrəfi], (Verb)

Definitions:
- (of body tissue or an organ) waste away, especially as a result of the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial during evolution
(e.g: the calf muscles will atrophy)

- gradually decline in effectiveness or vigour due to underuse or neglect
(e.g: the imagination can atrophy from lack of use)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 16th century: from French atrophier (verb), atrophie (noun), from late Latin atrophia, from Greek, ‘lack of food’, from atrophos ‘poorly nourished’, from a- ‘without’ + trophē ‘food’


[ˈatrəfi], (Noun)

Definitions:
- the process of atrophying or state of having atrophied
(e.g: gastric atrophy)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 16th century: from French atrophier (verb), atrophie (noun), from late Latin atrophia, from Greek, ‘lack of food’, from atrophos ‘poorly nourished’, from a- ‘without’ + trophē ‘food’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries