- plural of geriatric.
geriatrics
Americannoun
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the branch of medicine dealing with the diseases, debilities, and care of aged people.
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the study of the physical processes and problems of aging; gerontology.
noun
Usage
The term geriatric medicine is often used nowadays in preference to geriatrics
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of geriatrics
Explanation
If you become a doctor who specializes in geriatrics, your patients will mainly be elderly people. The medical branch of geriatrics focuses on the health issues and diseases of old age. A doctor who specializes in this kind of medicine might be called a geriatric physician or a geriatrician. Geriatrics was originally based on the word pediatrics, the medical care of children, and comes from the Greek geron, which means "old age" or "old man."
Vocabulary lists containing geriatrics
List 9
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iatr (healing); therap (medical treatment)
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List 13
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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.
The study was published in the journal Geriatrics.
From Science Daily • Jun. 21, 2026
The new research, which was published in the journal Geriatrics, comes as people are living longer — but their health and wealth may not last their entire lifetime.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 10, 2026
The guidelines, maintained by the American Geriatrics Society and named the “Beers Criteria” after the doctor who first led their development, suggest some drugs should almost never be taken by older patients.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
Unfortunately, there’s no established cut-off score that indicates a health risk, says Tami Saito, an epidemiologist who studies loneliness at Japan’s National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
From Science Magazine • Apr. 24, 2024
The American Geriatrics Society and others said the proposal’s name implied that the NIA, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, was a full partner in the effort.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2024
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.
