Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
nounRickets.
More synonyms by meaning
nounchildhood disease caused by deficiency of vitamin D and sunlight associated with impaired metabolism of calcium and phosphorus
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Pre-Greek
- Ancient Greekῥάχῐς“lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”
- Koine Greekῥαχῖτις
- New Latinrachitis
- Englishrachitis
Unadapted borrowing from New Latin rachitis, used by the British physician Francis Glisson (1597–1677) to refer to rickets, from Koine Greek ῥαχῖτις (rhakhîtis) (in ῥαχῖτις νόσος (rhakhîtis nósos, “spinal inflammation”, literally “spinal disease”)), the feminine form of ῥαχίτης (rhakhítēs, “in or of the spine, spinal”), from Ancient Greek ῥάχῐς (rhákhĭs, “lower part of the back; (anatomy) backbone, spine”) (probably ultimately Pre-Greek) + -ῖτις (-îtis) (feminine form of -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs, suffix forming nouns with the sense ‘one connected to’)). By surface analysis, rach- + -itis.
More words from New Latin, Koine Greek, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with rachitis
Cite this entry
rachitis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rachitis
“rachitis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rachitis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rachitis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rachitis.
Source: rachitis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.