cachexia
|ca-chex-ia|
/kəˈkɛksiə/
severe wasting (bad bodily condition)
Etymology
'cachexia' originates from modern medical/Neo-Latin (cachexia), ultimately from Greek 'kakhexis'/'kakhexia', where Greek 'kakos' meant 'bad' and 'hexis' meant 'condition' or 'state'.
'cachexia' passed from Greek 'kakhexis' into Late/Medieval Latin as 'cachexia' and into modern medical Latin and English with little change in form, becoming the current English medical term 'cachexia'.
Initially it meant 'bad condition' (literally a 'bad state'), but over time it came to be used specifically for the syndrome of severe wasting and metabolic disturbance associated with chronic disease.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a complex metabolic syndrome associated with an underlying illness, characterized by severe loss of body weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and significant loss of appetite (often seen in cancer, chronic infection, or heart failure).
The patient developed cachexia during the late stages of cancer and required specialized nutritional and palliative care.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/17 18:47