Meanings
abbreviation FOP
- uncountablemedical geneticsA very rare, disabling genetic disorder of the connective tissue in which fibrous tissue (including ligaments, muscles, and tendons) ossifies (“transforms into bone”) when damaged.
The cardinal manifestations of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva are microdactyly and progressive ossification of fascia, [aponeuroses], and other fibrous structures related to muscles.
1956, Victor A[lmon] McKusick, “Concluding Comments”, in Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue, St. Louis, Mo.: The C. V. Mosby Company, →OCLC, pages 194–1953 more examples
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of skeletal malformations and progressive extraskeletal ossification. We mapped FOP to chromosome 2q23-24 by linkage analysis and identified an identical heterozygous mutation (617G → A; R206H) in the glycine-serine (GS) activation domain of ACVR1, a BMP type I receptor, in all affected individuals examined.
2006 April 23, Eileen M. Shore [et al.], “A Recurrent Mutation in the BMP Type I Receptor ACVR1 Causes Inherited and Sporadic Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva”, in Nature Genetics, volume 38, New York, N.Y.: Nature Portfolio, published 1 May 2006, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, abstract, page 525This year that show [Grey's Anatomy] featured a story about a patient with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a disorder in which damaged muscles and connective tissue turn to bone, forming, essentially, a second skeleton.
2007 June 18, Ginia Bellafante, “TV review: ‘Heartland’: Doctor, give me the news, and sew me up pretty”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021A mother of a one-year-old girl with an illness that turns muscle into bone has urged the government to do more to help research into rare conditions. Lexi Robins, of Hemel Hempstead has the very rare condition Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP).
2022 July 7, Alex Pope, “Hemel Hempstead Mother’s Funding Plea for Daughter’s Rare Disease”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 11 Dec 2023Synonyms: Münchmeyer disease, myositis ossificans progressiva, stone man syndrome
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA very rare, disabling genetic disorder of the connective tissue in which fibrous tissue (including ligaments, muscles, and tendons) ossifies (“transforms into bone”) when damaged.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʰredʰ-“to go; to walk”
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃ésth₁“bone”
- Latinossīs
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-“to split”
- Latinfibra“fibre; filament”
- Latinprōgressīvā
- New Latinossificans
- Englishfibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
PIE word *h₃ésth₁ From English fibrodysplasia, and borrowed from New Latin ossificans + Latin prōgressīvā, literally “abnormal development of fibrous tissue with ossification that is progressive”: * Fibrodysplasia is derived from fibro- (prefix meaning ‘fibre; fibrous’) (from Latin fibra (“fibre; filament”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”)) + dysplasia (“abnormal development of cells or tissue”) (from dys- (prefix meaning ‘abnormal; disease’) + -plasia (suffix meaning ‘formation; growth’)). * Ossificans is from Latin ossīs (a plural form of ossum (“bone”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ésth₁ (“bone”)) + -ficāns (the present active participle of -ficō (suffix forming chiefly causative or factitive verbs)). * Prōgressīvā is the ablative feminine singular of prōgressīvus (“progressive”), from prōgressus (“advanced, proceeded; developed, progressed”) (the perfect active participle of prōgredior (“to advance, proceed; (figurative) to develop, progress”), from prō- (prefix denoting a forward direction) + gradior (“to step; to walk; to advance”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- (“to go; to walk”))) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives). The disease was originally termed myositis ossificans progressiva in 1868. The use of fibrodysplasia in place of myositis was suggested by K. H. Bauer and W. Bode in 1940, and adopted by the American medical geneticist Victor A. McKusick (1921–2008) in his work Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue (1956).
More words from New Latin, Latin, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic خلل التنسج الليفي المعظم المترقي
- خلل التنسج الليفي المعظم المترقيgenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Basque fibrodisplasia osifikatzaile progresibo
- fibrodisplasia osifikatzaile progresibogenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Catalan fibrodisplàsia ossificant progressiva
- fibrodisplàsia ossificant progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Chinese Mandarin 進行性骨化性纖維發育不良 /进行性骨化性纤维发育不良
- 進行性骨化性纖維發育不良 /进行性骨化性纤维发育不良 (jìnxíngxìnggǔhuàxìngxiānwéifāyùbùliáng)genetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Czech fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
- fibrodysplasia ossificans progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Dutch fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
- fibrodysplasia ossificans progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Esperanto progresa ostiĝa fibrodisplazio
- progresa ostiĝa fibrodisplaziogenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Finnish fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
- fibrodysplasia ossificans progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
German Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
- Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Hebrew תסמונת FOP
- תסמונת FOPgenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Italian fibrodisplasia ossificante progressiva
- fibrodisplasia ossificante progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Japanese 進行性骨化性線維異形成症
- 進行性骨化性線維異形成症 (shin kōsei kotsu ka sei sen ī kei seishou)genetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Korean 진행성 골화성 섬유이형성증
- 진행성 골화성 섬유이형성증 (jinhaengseong golhwaseong seomyuihyeongseongjeung)genetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Latvian progresējošā osificējošā fibrodisplāzija
- progresējošā osificējošā fibrodisplāzijagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Persian فیبرودیسپلازی استخوانیشونده پیشرونده
- فیبرودیسپلازی استخوانیشونده پیشروندهgenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Polish postępujące kostniejące zapalenie mięśni
- postępujące kostniejące zapalenie mięśnigenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Portuguese fibrodisplasia ossificante progressiva
- fibrodisplasia ossificante progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Romanian fibrodisplazie osificantă progresivă
- fibrodisplazie osificantă progresivăgenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Russian фибродисплази́я оссифици́рующая прогресси́рующая
- фибродисплази́я оссифици́рующая прогресси́рующая (fibrodisplazíja ossificírujuščaja progressírujuščaja)genetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Spanish fibrodisplasia osificante progresiva
- fibrodisplasia osificante progresivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Turkish fibrodisplazi ossifikans progressiva
- fibrodisplazi ossifikans progressivagenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Vietnamese hội chứng người hoá đá
- hội chứng người hoá đágenetic disorder in which fibrous tissue ossifies when damaged
Cite this entry
fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fibrodysplasia%20ossificans%20progressiva
“fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fibrodysplasia%20ossificans%20progressiva. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fibrodysplasia%20ossificans%20progressiva.
Source: fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.