emaciation

American  

[ih-mey-shee-ey-shuhn, -see-] / ɪˌmeɪ ʃiˈeɪ ʃən, -si- /

noun

1. abnormal thinness caused by lack of nutrition or by disease.

2. the process of emaciating.

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Etymology

Origin of emaciation

1655–65; < Latin ēmaciāt ( us ) ( see emaciate) + -ion

Explanation

Emaciation is extreme, dangerous thinness. People suffering from emaciation have usually experienced malnutrition because of illness or poverty. If someone goes on a hunger strike for long enough, it will result in emaciation, leaving them looking gaunt and feeling very weak. True emaciation means that there is very little fat left in the person's body, making their bones prominent. This noun comes from the Latin emaciare, "make lean, waste away," and its root, macer, "thin."

Example Sentences

Emaciation always marks either defect of nutrition or morbid excess of tissue-waste.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Emaciation and anemia are inevitable in such cases.

From Intestinal Ills Chronic Constipation, Indigestion, Autogenetic Poisons, Diarrhea, Piles, Etc. Also Auto-Infection, Auto-Intoxication, Anemia, Emaciation, Etc. Due to Proctitis and Colitis by Jamison, Alcinous B. (Alcinous Burton)

Emaciation, wrinkling of the skin, dryness and falling out of the hair, decay of the teeth, are not as Page 55 a rule part of the picture of nervous dyspepsia.

From The Nervous Child by Cameron, Hector Charles

Emaciation, clubbing of the fingers and toes, night sweats, hemoptysis, in fact all of the symptoms of tuberculosis are in most cases simulated with exactitude, even to the gain in weight by an out-door regime.

From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Jackson, Chevalier

Emaciation as a rule is a symptom of an abnormal condition rather than a disease in itself.

From Dietetics for Nurses by Proudfit, Fairfax T.