diabetes mellitus

/ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz//ˌdaɪəˈbiːtɪs//ˌməˈlaɪtəs//ˈmɛlɨtəs/

noun

A medical disorder commonly called diabetes, characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels), especially after eating. It is classified in two types, which are different etiologically but similar in clinical effects: type 1 and type 2.

Similar
sugar diabetesDM
OriginNew Latin diabetes mellitus →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundiabetes mellitus (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA medical disorder commonly called diabetes, characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels), especially after eating. It is classified in two types, which are different etiologically but similar in clinical effects: type 1 and type 2.

    Patients initially may seek medical attention for diabetes mellitus, which becomes clinically manifest a few years after the onset of pancreatalgia.

    2018, Isidor Segal, Digestive Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Changes and Challenges, page 98

    Synonyms: sugar diabetes

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA medical disorder commonly called diabetes, characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels), especially after eating. It is classified in two types, which are different etiologically but similar in clinical effects: type 1 and type 2.

Similar
sugar diabetes

More synonyms by meaning

noundiabetes caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin and characterized by polyuria

Similar
DM
Broader
diabetes
Also see
diabetesdm

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. New Latindiabetes mellitus“diabetes of the sweet type”
  2. Englishdiabetes mellitus

Learned borrowing from New Latin diabetes mellitus (“diabetes of the sweet type”) (from the fact that in centuries past, physicians sometimes tasted a patient's urine to help diagnose the illness).

More words from New Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans suikersiekte
  • suikersiektemedical disorder
Arabic مرض السكر
  • مرض السكرmedical disorder
Bengali বহুমূত্র রোগ
  • বহুমূত্র রোগ (bohumutro rōg)medical disorder
Bulgarian захарен диабет
  • захарен диабет (zaharen diabet)medical disorder
Catalan diabetis mellitus
  • diabetis mellitusmedical disorder
Chinese Mandarin 糖尿病
  • 糖尿病 (tángniàobìng)medical disorder
Czech cukrovka
  • cukrovkamedical disorder
Danish sukkersyge
  • sukkersygemedical disorder
Dutch suikerziekte f'
  • suikerziekte f'medical disorder
Estonian suhkurtõbi
  • suhkurtõbimedical disorder
Finnish diabetes, sokeritauti
  • diabetesmedical disorder
  • sokeritautimedical disorder
  • diabetes mellitusmedical disorder
French diabète, diabète sucré
  • diabètemedical disorder
  • diabète sucrémedical disorder
German Diabetes, Zuckerkrankheit
  • Diabetesmedical disorder
  • Zuckerkrankheitmedical disorder
  • Diabetes mellitusmedical disorder
Greek σακχαρώδης διαβήτης
  • σακχαρώδης διαβήτης (sakcharódis diavítis)medical disorder
Hindi मधुमेह
  • मधुमेह (madhumeh)medical disorder
Hungarian cukorbetegség
  • cukorbetegségmedical disorder
Icelandic sykursýki
  • sykursýkimedical disorder
Indonesian diabetes melitus, penyakit gula
  • diabetes melitusmedical disorder
  • penyakit gulamedical disorder
  • kencing manismedical disorder
Italian diabete mellito
  • diabete mellitomedical disorder
Japanese 糖尿病
  • 糖尿病 (tōnyōbyō)medical disorder
Latin diabetes mellitus
  • diabetes mellitusmedical disorder
Latvian cukurslimība, cukura diabēts
  • cukurslimībamedical disorder
  • cukura diabētsmedical disorder
Lithuanian cukrinis diabetas
  • cukrinis diabetasmedical disorder
Polish cukrzyca
  • cukrzycamedical disorder
Portuguese diabetes melito
  • diabetes melitomedical disorder
Punjabi ਸ਼ੱਕਰ ਰੋਗ, ਮਧੂਮੇਹ
  • ਸ਼ੱਕਰ ਰੋਗ (śakkar rog)medical disorder
  • ਮਧੂਮੇਹ (madhūmeh)medical disorder
Romanian diabet zaharat
  • diabet zaharatmedical disorder
Russian са́харный диабе́т
  • са́харный диабе́т (sáxarnyj diabét)medical disorder
Scottish Gaelic tinneas an t-siùcair
  • tinneas an t-siùcairmedical disorder
Spanish diabetes mellitus
  • diabetes mellitusmedical disorder
Swahili kisukari, bolisukari
  • kisukarimedical disorder
  • bolisukarimedical disorder
Swedish diabetes mellitus
  • diabetes mellitusmedical disorder
Turkish diyabet, şeker hastalığı
  • diyabetmedical disorder
  • şeker hastalığımedical disorder
  • şekermedical disorder
Ukrainian цукровий діабет
  • цукровий діабет (cukrovyj diabet)medical disorder
Urdu ذیابیطس شکری, ذیابیطس
  • ذیابیطس شکری (ziyābītas-e-śakrī)medical disorder
  • ذیابیطس (ziyābītas)medical disorder
  • شوگر (śugar)medical disorder
Cite this entry
APA

diabetes mellitus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diabetes%20mellitus

MLA

“diabetes mellitus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diabetes%20mellitus. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diabetes mellitus,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diabetes%20mellitus.

Source: diabetes mellitus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.