Malacia
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Abnormal softening of organs or tissues of the human body. countable, uncountable
"As soon, namely, as a process of this sort sets in in a compound organ, as for example, a muscle, a palpable myo-malacia is certainly produced when all the muscular elements at a given point are at once affected; but it happens far more frequently that, in the course of a muscle, only a comparatively small number of primitive fasciculi are affected, whilst the others remain almost intact."
- 2 a state of abnormal softening of tissue wordnet
- 3 An abnormal craving for certain types of food. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The least abnormal condition appears to be the malacia, or desire for highly spiced or acid foods that are sometimes seen in chlorotic girls and in pregnant women."
Example
More examples"As soon, namely, as a process of this sort sets in in a compound organ, as for example, a muscle, a palpable myo-malacia is certainly produced when all the muscular elements at a given point are at once affected; but it happens far more frequently that, in the course of a muscle, only a comparatively small number of primitive fasciculi are affected, whilst the others remain almost intact."
Etymology
From Latin malacia, from Ancient Greek μαλακία (malakía, “softness, sickness”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.