avitaminosis
|a-vi-ta-mi-no-sis|
🇺🇸
/ˌeɪvɪtəˈmɪnoʊsɪs/
🇬🇧
/ˌeɪvɪtəˈmɪnəʊsɪs/
disease from lack of vitamins
Etymology
'avitaminosis' originates from New Latin (Neo-Latin), formed by the prefix 'a-' (from Greek 'a-' meaning 'without'), the word 'vitamin' (coined 1912 from 'vital' + 'amine'), and the suffix '-osis' (from Greek 'ōsis' meaning 'condition, disease').
'avitaminosis' was created in the early 20th century after the coinage of 'vitamin' and related terms such as 'avitaminic', and it entered medical usage to denote diseases caused by lack of vitamins.
Initially it referred specifically to conditions caused by the complete absence of vitamins; over time its use broadened to include deficiency states caused by insufficient vitamin intake (overlapping with 'hypovitaminosis').
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a disease or pathological condition caused by the absence or severe deficiency of one or more vitamins.
The patient was diagnosed with avitaminosis after months of poor diet and weight loss.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/02 23:24