dyspepsia
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of dyspepsia
1650–60; < Latin < Greek dyspepsía, equivalent to dys- dys- + péps ( is ) digestion + -ia -ia
Explanation
If you have chronic indigestion, heartburn, or nausea, you may be diagnosed with the digestive disorder dyspepsia. Dyspepsia can be caused by many things, including ulcers and medications. Dys- is the Greek prefix for bad, and peptos is Greek for digested. Together they make the word dyspeptos, which means hard to digest or literally, badly digested. The Greek word became the root for the adjective dyspeptic, which in turn was the basis for dyspepsia. Sometimes people may say you have dyspepsia when they mean you are chronically in a bad mood or so irritable that it seems like you suffer from chronic indigestion — although this usage is more common with dyspeptic.
Vocabulary lists containing dyspepsia
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: dys
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"The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter
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Moon Over Manifest
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mala punica, or pomegranates, are the chief ingredient, in his remedies, for Diarrhœa, Dyspepsia, and Stranguary.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume II by Dunlop, John
Brudenell Carter's operation for relieving pressure on the optic nerve 10611 Dyspepsia, its causes and prevention.—How this malady is caused and how easily it may be guarded against, an essay in prophylaxis 10610 IX.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 664, September 22,1888 by Various
They would not have allured any but hungry school-boys, and ought to have been labelled Dyspepsia and Headache, so unwholesome were they.
From Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, Vol. 5 Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore, Etc. by Alcott, Louisa May
Dyspepsia had not, as yet, marred his visage or weakened his energies.
From Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pills and Powders Cogitations and Confessions of an Aged Physician by Alcott, William A. (William Andrus)
Indigestion or Dyspepsia, Hickory Ashes for.—"Take a swallow of hickory limb ashes and water three times a day."
From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
