noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A disease characterised by skin lesions and mental confusion, primarily caused by a niacin deficiency. countable, uncountable

   "In 1755 the French physician Gaspar Casal (1680–1759) published an account of pellagra, then a new disease in Spain."

2. 2
   a disease caused by deficiency of niacin or tryptophan (or by a defect in the metabolic conversion of tryptophan to niacin); characterized by gastrointestinal disturbances and erythema and nervous or mental disorders; may be caused by malnutrition or alcoholism or other nutritional impairments wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alpine scurvyanemiaariboflavinosisberibericachexiachlorosis

Example

More examples

"In 1755 the French physician Gaspar Casal (1680–1759) published an account of pellagra, then a new disease in Spain."

Etymology

From Italian pellagra, from Latin pellis (“skin”) + Ancient Greek ἄγρα (ágra, “seizure, attack, catching”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.