Cachexia
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A systemic wasting of muscle tissue, with or without loss of fat mass, that accompanies a chronic disease. countable, uncountable
"An handful of the Leavs or Roots [of garden succory] boyled in Wine or Water, and a draught thereof drunk faſting, […] helpeth the yellow Jaundice, the Heat of the Reins and of the Urin, and the Dropſie also, and thoſe that have an evil Diſpoſition in their Bodies by reaſon of long ſickneſs, evil Diet &c., which the Greeks call Καχεξία, Cachexia."
- 2 any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease wordnet
Example
More examples"An handful of the Leavs or Roots [of garden succory] boyled in Wine or Water, and a draught thereof drunk faſting, […] helpeth the yellow Jaundice, the Heat of the Reins and of the Urin, and the Dropſie also, and thoſe that have an evil Diſpoſition in their Bodies by reaſon of long ſickneſs, evil Diet &c., which the Greeks call Καχεξία, Cachexia."
Etymology
From Late Latin cachexia or French cachexie, from Ancient Greek καχεξία (kakhexía), from κακός (kakós, “bad; injurious”) + ἕξῐς (héxĭs, “act of having; habit or state of body”) (ultimately from ἔχω (ékhō, “to have”)) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, suffix added to adjectives to form abstract nouns).
Related phrases
More for "cachexia"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.