atony

[ at-n-ee ]

noun
  1. Pathology. lack of tone or energy; muscular weakness, especially in a contractile organ.

  2. Phonetics. lack of stress accent.

Origin of atony

1
1685–95; <Late Latin atonia<Greek, derivative of átonos unaccented, languid, literally, toneless. See a-6, tone
  • Also a·to·ni·a [uh-toh-nee-uh, ey-toh-]. /əˈtoʊ ni ə, eɪˈtoʊ-/.

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British Dictionary definitions for atony

atony

/ (ˈætənɪ) /


noun
  1. pathol lack of normal tone or tension, as in muscles; abnormal relaxation of a muscle

  2. phonetics lack of stress or accent on a syllable or word

Origin of atony

1
C17: from Latin atonia, from Greek: tonelessness, from atonos slack, from a- 1 + tonos tone

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