Meanings
- uncountablemedicineA chronic non-contagious disease of the brain and spinal cord characterized by changes in sensation, visual problems, weakness, depression, difficulties with coordination and speech, impaired mobility and disability.
Synonyms: MS
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA chronic non-contagious disease of the brain and spinal cord characterized by changes in sensation, visual problems, weakness, depression, difficulties with coordination and speech, impaired mobility and disability.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna chronic progressive nervous disorder involving loss of myelin sheath around certain nerve fibers
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Ellipsis of multiple cerebral sclerosis, i.e. appearance of hardenings or nodules dispersed throughout parts of the central nervous system, in the brain or spinal cord. Confusingly, at some point during the 20th century most sources started dropping cerebral from the expression, even though sclerosis can occur in the other tissues of the body, in unrelated pathologies.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَصَلُّب لُوَيْحِيّ
- تَصَلُّب لُوَيْحِيّ (taṣallub luwayḥiyy)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Catalan esclerosi múltiple
- esclerosi múltiplechronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Chinese Mandarin 多發性硬化症 /多发性硬化症
- 多發性硬化症 /多发性硬化症 (duōfāxìng yìnghuàzhèng)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Czech roztroušená skleróza
- roztroušená sklerózachronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Dutch multiple sclerose
- multiple sclerosechronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Esperanto multloka sklerozo
- multloka sklerozochronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Finnish MS-tauti, multippeliskleroosi
- MS-tautichronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
- multippeliskleroosichronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
- pesäkekovettumatautichronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
French sclérose en plaques
- sclérose en plaqueschronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Hungarian sclerosis multiplex
- sclerosis multiplexchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Icelandic mýlisskaði, heila- og mænusigg
- mýlisskaðichronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
- heila- og mænusiggchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Irish scléaróis iolrach
- scléaróis iolrachchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Japanese 多発性硬化症
- 多発性硬化症 (tahatsuseikōkashō)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Korean 다발성 경화증
- 다발성 경화증 (dabalseong gyeonghwajeung)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Malay roro tapepe
- roro tapepechronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Persian گرفتگی بافتهای گوناگون
- گرفتگی بافتهای گوناگونchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Polish stwardnienie rozsiane
- stwardnienie rozsianechronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Portuguese esclerose múltipla
- esclerose múltiplachronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Romanian scleroză multiplă
- scleroză multiplăchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Russian рассе́янный склеро́з
- рассе́янный склеро́з (rasséjannyj skleróz)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Spanish esclerosis múltiple
- esclerosis múltiplechronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Swedish multipel skleros
- multipel skleroschronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Tamil தண்டுவட மரப்பு நோய்
- தண்டுவட மரப்பு நோய் (taṇṭuvaṭa marappu nōy)chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Turkish multipl skleroz
- multipl sklerozchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Vietnamese đa xơ cứng, xơ cứng rải rác
- đa xơ cứngchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
- xơ cứng rải rácchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Welsh sglerosis ymledol
- sglerosis ymledolchronic disease of the brain and spinal cord
Cite this entry
multiple sclerosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiple%20sclerosis
“multiple sclerosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiple%20sclerosis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “multiple sclerosis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/multiple%20sclerosis.
Source: multiple sclerosis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.