diarrhea
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English diaria, from Middle French diarrie (French diarrhée),[1] from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Ancient Greek διάρροια (diárrhoia, “through-flowing”), from διά (diá, “through”) + ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”). By surface analysis, dia- + -rrhea. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.
Displaced native Old English ūtsiht (literally “straining out”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
diarrhea (countable and uncountable, plural diarrheas) (American spelling, Canadian spelling)
- A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very soft or watery bowel movements.
- The watery or very soft excrement that comes from such bowel movements.
- 2008, Danna Korn and Connie Sarros, Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, Chapter 1:
- My Pampers bill is higher than your paycheck, my hands are raw from washing them every six minutes, and I do eight loads of laundry a day because everything we own is covered in diarrhea, and you want me to "plug him up" and wait another three weeks?
- 2009, Daniel Everett, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes[1], page 47:
- I looked and saw that she and her hammock were covered in diarrhea.
- 2014, L. A. Knight, Dog Training the American Male, page 221:
- Why was she covered in diarrhea?
- 2008, Danna Korn and Connie Sarros, Gluten-Free Cooking for Dummies, Chapter 1:
Usage notes edit
- Diarrhea is the American spelling; diarrhoea is the British spelling.
Synonyms edit
- (medical condition): the runs, the shits, the squirts (US), the trots, the squits (both UK), the skitters (Scottish and Northern English) (all slang)
- See also Thesaurus:diarrhea, bubble guts
Hyponyms edit
- Montezuma's revenge (informal)
- Pharaoh's revenge (informal)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
- galactorrhea/galactorrhoea
- gonorrhea/gonorrhoea
- logorrhea/logorrhoea
- pyorrhea/pyorrhoea
- rheology
- diarrheal
- diarrheic
- antidiarrheal
Translations edit
medical condition
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watery excrement
|
See also edit
References edit
- ^ “dīarīa, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved June 5, 2022.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *srew-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms prefixed with dia-
- English terms suffixed with -rrhea
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːə
- Rhymes:English/iːə/4 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English forms
- Canadian English forms
- English terms with quotations
- en:Medical signs and symptoms
- en:Feces
- en:Diseases