rickets

[rik-its]

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.

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

Historical Examples of rickets

Tuberculosis and rickets carried on their evil work unchecked.
A Labrador Doctor
Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
Excessive perspiration when sleeping is an early symptom of rickets.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
Rickets, during infancy, is the most common cause of spinal curvature.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
It is increased also by pain in rickets, and especially in some affections of the lungs.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
I forthwith entered into an explanation of the causes of rickets.
At the Court of the Amr
John Alfred Gray

British Dictionary definitions for rickets

rickets

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

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.

rickets in Medicine

rickets

[rĭk′ĭts]

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

rickets in Science

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.