First Known Use: 1601
Dictionary
atrophy
noun at·ro·phy \ˈa-trə-fē\
medical : gradual loss of muscle or flesh usually because of disease or lack of use
plural at·ro·phies
Full Definition of ATROPHY
1
: decrease in size or wasting away of a body part or tissue; also : arrested development or loss of a part or organ incidental to the normal development or life of an animal or plant
2
: a wasting away or progressive decline <was not a solitude of atrophy, of negation, but of perpetual flowering — Willa Cather>
— atro·phic \(ˌ)ā-ˈtrō-fik\ adjective
— atrophy \ˈa-trə-fē, -ˌfī\ verb
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Origin of ATROPHY
Late Latin atrophia, from Greek, from atrophos ill fed, from a- + trephein to nourish
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