progeria

American  

[proh-jeer-ee-uh] / proʊˈdʒɪər i ə /

noun

Pathology.

1. a rare congenital abnormality characterized by premature and rapid aging, the affected individual appearing in childhood as an aged person and having a shortened life span.

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progeria British  

/ prəʊˈdʒɪərɪə /

noun

1. med premature old age, a rare condition occurring in children and characterized by small stature, absent or greying hair, wrinkled skin, and other signs of old age

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Etymology

Origin of progeria

1900–05; < New Latin < Greek progḗr ( ōs ) prematurely old ( pro- pro- ² + gêr ( as ) old age + -ōs adj. suffix) + New Latin -ia -ia

Example Sentences

An article on the Xtend website celebrates the regulator granting the device a designation to evaluate its utility in treating progeria, a disease that causes children to age prematurely.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

They also plan to model a disease called progeria, in which cells have a genetic mutation that leads to loss of heterochromatin.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2023

At age 3, just hours after the birth of the Kushners’ daughter, Aaron was diagnosed with a rare disease, progeria, in which the body ages rapidly.

From New York Times • Apr. 28, 2023

How can this database help to support and guide research for rare genetic conditions, like progeria?

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

That the spectacle of such a superbaby is not quite the most fantastic of all improbabilities is shown by the condition of progeria, first recorded by the Briton, Hastings Guilford.

From The Glands Regulating Personality by Berman, Louis, M.D.