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Atrophy
Definitions
- 1 A reduction in the functionality of an organ caused by disease, injury or lack of use. countable, uncountable
"Now that chatbots are going the way of Google—moving from the miraculous to the taken-for-granted—the anxiety has shifted, too, from apocalypse to atrophy. Teachers, especially, say they’re beginning to see the rot. The term for it is unlovely but not inapt: de-skilling."
- 2 any weakening or degeneration (especially through lack of use) wordnet
- 3 a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse wordnet
- 1 To wither or waste away. intransitive
"Boy. I love summer vacation. I can feel my brain beginning to atrophy already."
- 2 undergo atrophy wordnet
- 3 To cause to waste away or become abortive; to starve or weaken. transitive
"Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion"
Etymology
Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “I fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
Borrowed from French atrophie, from Latin atrophia, from Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía, “a wasting away”), from ἄτροφος (átrophos, “ill-fed, un-nourished”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + τροφή (trophḗ, “nourishment”), from τρέφω (tréphō, “I fatten”). Equivalent to a- + -trophy.
See also for "atrophy"
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