rickets

[ rik-its ]

/ ˈrɪk ɪts /

noun Pathology.

a disease of childhood, characterized by softening of the bones as a result of inadequate intake of vitamin D and insufficient exposure to sunlight, also associated with impaired calcium and phosphorus metabolism.

Nearby words

Origin of rickets

First recorded in 1635–45; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rickets

Rickets was telling me the other day about a wonderful bookkeeper his father used to have in his office.
Atchoo!|George Niblo
Rickets, for instance, is well recognised as a cause of such deformities.
Essays In Pastoral Medicine|Austin Malley
Say, I'm a little nuisance, Rickets, say I'm a little nuisance.
The Divine Fire|May Sinclair
He knew that in Japan rickets, goitre and gout were all less common than in the West.
The Foundations of Japan|J.W. Robertson Scott

Rickets, like scurvy, is being discussed by scientists both in America and abroad.
Dietetics for Nurses|Fairfax T. Proudfit

British Dictionary definitions for rickets

rickets

/ (ˈrɪkɪts) /

noun

(functioning as singular or plural) pathol a disease mainly of children, characterized by softening of developing bone, and hence bow legs, malnutrition, and enlargement of the liver and spleen, caused by a deficiency of vitamin D

Word Origin for rickets

C17: of unknown origin

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

Word Origin and History for rickets

rickets

disease caused by vitamin D deficiency, 1630s, of uncertain origin. Originally a local name for the disease in Dorset and Somerset, England. Some derive it from a Dorset word, rucket "to breathe with difficulty," but the sense connection is difficult. The Modern Latin name for the disease, rachitis, comes from Greek rhakhis "spine" (see rachitic), but this was chosen by English physician Daniel Whistler (1619-1684) for resemblance to rickets.

Medicine definitions for rickets

rickets

[ rĭk′ĭts ]

n.

A bone disease resulting in defective skeletal growth in children, analogous to osteomalacia in adults, characterized by bone demineralization caused by deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D or phosphates. infantile osteomalacia juvenile osteomalacia rachitis

Science definitions for rickets

rickets

[ rĭk′ĭts ]

A bone disease seen mostly in children, caused by a deficiency of vitamin D, usually as a result of inadequate dietary intake or lack of exposure to sunlight. This deficiency causes decreased calcium absorption from the intestine and abnormalities in formation and mineralization of skeletal bone, resulting in defective bone growth and deformity.