atony
[at-n-ee]
- Pathology. lack of tone or energy; muscular weakness, especially in a contractile organ.
- Phonetics. lack of stress accent.
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Also a·to·ni·a [uh-toh-nee-uh, ey-toh-] /əˈtoʊ ni ə, eɪˈtoʊ-/.
Origin of atony
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for atony
Historical Examples
As for myself, I have not got rid of my atony—for such is my illness.
The last writer especially distinguishes clearly between dilatation due to stenosis and that due to atony.
Atony of the muscular walls of the stomach may be a part of general muscular weakness and impaired nutrition.
The muscle of the bowel is in a state of fatty degeneration, and atony and dilatation of the gut follow.
His nerve-principle was supposed to produce spasms and atony, either actively or passively.
An Epitome of the History of MedicineRoswell Park
atony
- pathol lack of normal tone or tension, as in muscles; abnormal relaxation of a muscle
- phonetics lack of stress or accent on a syllable or word
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin atonia, from Greek: tonelessness, from atonos slack, from a- 1 + tonos tone
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
atony
(ăt′ə-nē, ăt′n-ē)- Lack of normal tone or tension; flaccidity.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.