Meanings
adjectiveosteolytic (comparative more osteolytic, superlative most osteolytic)
comparative more osteolytic · superlative most osteolytic
- Of, pertaining to, or causing osteolysis.
It is usually rapidly progressing osteolytic lesions that initiated just prior to death, such as those that occur in malignant cancers that tend to present the most problems in recognition.
2023, Simon Mays, “The Macroscopic Study of Human Skeletal Paleopathology” (chapter 2), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, page 28
Origin
From osteolysis + -tic or osteo- + -lytic.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
osteolytic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osteolytic
MLA
“osteolytic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osteolytic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “osteolytic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/osteolytic.
Source: osteolytic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.