Rickets
//ˈɹɪkɪts// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A disorder of infancy and early childhood due to a deficiency of vitamin D, causing soft or weak bones. uncountable
- 2 childhood disease caused by deficiency of vitamin D and sunlight associated with impaired metabolism of calcium and phosphorus wordnet
Verb
- 1 third-person singular simple present indicative of ricket form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Example
More examples"Rubella is also called 'German measles' in English, while Germans call rickets 'the English disease'."
Etymology
Unknown. Originally a local name for the disease in Dorset and Somerset, England. Occasionally postulated to be derived from a Dorsetian dialectal term *rucket (“to breathe with difficulty, wheeze”), but the semantic connection is tenuous. See rachitis, but the medical name was chosen purposefully by English physician Daniel Whistler from phonetic similarity to rickets.
Related phrases
More for "rickets"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.