Meanings
plural phthises
- archaiccountableuncountableAn atrophy of the body or part of the body, especially pulmonary tuberculosis.
For some months to my becoming acquainted with him, his physicians had declared him in a confirmed phthisis. It was his custom, indeed, to speak calmly of his approaching dissolution, as a matter neither to be avoided nor regretted.
c. 1830-40's, Edgar Allan Poe, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar:Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe1 more example
Tired from his journey and his chronic lung weakness, which he had saved from turning to phthisis by winter sojourns in Egypt, he was yet goodhumoured enough when his deputy reported the arrival of a gang of Jews who wanted judgment on something or someone.
1985, Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked
Synonyms & antonyms
nouninvolving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekφθίσις“consumption, decline, wasting away”
- Latinphthisis
- Englishphthisis
Borrowed from Latin phthisis, from Ancient Greek φθίσις (phthísis, “consumption, decline, wasting away”), from φθίω (phthíō, “to waste away”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سُحَاف
- سُحَاف (suḥāf)phthisis
Bulgarian туберкулоза
- туберкулоза (tuberkuloza)phthisis
Catalan tisi
- tisiphthisis
Finnish keuhkotuberkuloosi
- keuhkotuberkuloosiphthisis
French phtisie, phthisie
- phtisiephthisis
- phthisiephthisis
German Phthise
- Phthisephthisis
Greek φθίση
- φθίση (fthísi)phthisis
Hungarian tüdővész, tüdőgümőkór
- tüdővészphthisis
- tüdőgümőkórphthisis
Italian tisi
- tisiphthisis
Latin phthisis
- phthisisphthisis
Polish zanik, atrofia
- zanikphthisis
- atrofiaphthisis
Russian чахо́тка
- чахо́тка (čaxótka)phthisis
Slovak suchotiny
- suchotinyphthisis
Spanish tisis
- tisisphthisis
Turkish verem
- veremphthisis
Cite this entry
phthisis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phthisis
“phthisis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phthisis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phthisis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phthisis.
Source: phthisis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.