syndrome

[sin-drohm, -druhm]

noun

1. Pathology, Psychiatry.,  a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder, disease, or the like.

2. a group of related or coincident things, events, actions, etc.

3. the pattern of symptoms that characterize or indicate a particular social condition.

4. a predictable, characteristic pattern of behavior, action, etc., that tends to occur under certain circumstances.

   the retirement syndrome of endless golf and bridge games; the feast-or-famine syndrome of big business.

syndrome

/ sɪnˈdrɒmɪk, ˈsɪndrəʊm /

noun

1. med any combination of signs and symptoms that are indicative of a particular disease or disorder

2. a symptom, characteristic, or set of symptoms or characteristics indicating the existence of a condition, problem, etc

syndrome

1. An abnormal condition or disease that is identified by an established group of signs and symptoms.

syndrome

1. A set of signs and symptoms that appear together and characterize a disease or medical condition. AIDS is an example of a syndrome.

A collection of attitudes or behaviors that go together is often called a syndrome.

Other Word Forms

• syndromic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of syndrome¹

1535–45; < New Latin < Greek syndromḗ concurrence, combination, equivalent to syn- syn- + drom-, base meaning “run” ( -drome ) + -ē feminine noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of syndrome¹

C16: via New Latin from Greek sundromē, literally: a running together, from _syn- + dramein to run

Example Sentences

She has spoken in the past about her Tourette’s syndrome, her struggles with depression and self-harm, and feeling brutally lonely on the road.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Researchers studying three groups of people -- individuals with autism, those with fetal alcohol syndrome, and a "neurotypical" control group -- found that cognitive ability strongly influenced how well participants understood speech in noisy conditions.

Read more on Science Daily

The president’s cabinet exhibits signs of Stockholm syndrome.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The condition is closely linked to systemic diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, arteriosclerosis, and kidney disease.

Read more on Science Daily

For the last weeks of her life, Natalie, now 44, watched her daughter writhing in agony as her bladder was stripped of its lining - a condition known as ketamine bladder syndrome.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ailment 
• disorder 
• malady 
• problem 
• sickness