ATROPHY


Meaning of ATROPHY in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈa-trə-fē ]

noun

( plural -phies )

Etymology: Late Latin atrophia, from Greek, from atrophos ill fed, from a- + trephein to nourish

Date: 1601

1. : decrease in size or wasting away of a body part or tissue ; also : arrested development or loss of a part or organ incidental to the normal development or life of an animal or plant

2. : a wasting away or progressive decline : degeneration

the atrophy of freedom

was not a solitude of atrophy , of negation, but of perpetual flowering — Willa Cather

• atro·phic (ˌ)ā-ˈtrō-fik adjective

• atrophy ˈa-trə-fē, -ˌfī verb

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.