sequela

se·que·la
S1E1Q10U1E1L1A1
UK/sɪˈkwiːlə/UK/-ˈkwɛ-/US/sɪˈkwɛlə/US/-ˈkwi-/

noun

Chiefly in the plural: a condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one, being either partly or wholly caused by it, or made possible by it.

RareScrabble 16

Meanings

nounsequela (plural sequelae or (archaic) sequelæ)

plural sequelae · archaic plural sequelæ

  1. medicineChiefly in the plural: a condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one, being either partly or wholly caused by it, or made possible by it.

    Complications: haematoma formation is a dangerous sequela of this operation, and careful drainage with polythene tubing was carried out.

    1970, J[ames] G[raham] Ballard, “Princess Margaret’s Face Lift”, in The Atrocity Exhibition, revised edition, London: Flamingo, HarperCollinsPublishers, published 2001, →ISBN, page 178
    2 more examples

    ‘Ay, ay,’ said Stephen testily, ‘it is showy enough to look at, no doubt, but these are only the superficial sequelae. There is no essential lesion.’

    1973, Patrick O’Brian, chapter 4, in H.M.S. Surprise, London: HarperCollinsPublishers for The Book People, →ISBN, page 69

    Although both acute PID and STIs may remain asymptomatic, some of their shared long-term sequelae are tubal factor infertility (TFI), salpingitis, and adhesions and scarring of the fallopian tubes, ovaries, and surrounding peritoneal tissue. These sequelae have been further identified as factors potentially associated with EOC risk.

    2023 December 11, Elizaveta Skarga, Heljä-Marja Surcel, Rudolf Kaaks, Tim Waterboer, Renée T Fortner, “Sexually Transmitted Infections and Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Results From the Finnish Maternity Cohort”, in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, volume 228, number 11, →DOI, pages 1621–1629
  2. broadlyformalThat which follows; a consequence, an effect.
    1 more example

    Initially he dosed himself [with opium] to quell neuralgia associated with 'gout' and nervous shooting pains in the limb and head, unable to bear the agonies these complaints produced on what Humphry Davy would call his 'excessive sensibility'. Self-dosing brought emotional and physical sequelae of its own.

    2003, Roy Porter, “Dependent Bodies”, in Flesh in the Age of Reason, London: Allen Lane, Penguin Group, →ISBN, part IV (The Science of Man for a New Society), page 407
  3. broadlyformalrarePeople who adhere to the opinions or teachings of another; followers.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Latinsequēlae
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sekʷ-“to follow”
  3. Latinsequēla“aftermath, sequel; consequence, result”
  4. Englishsequela

Learned borrowing from Latin sequēla (“aftermath, sequel; consequence, result”), from sequor (“to follow; to come or go after, pursue”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”)) + -ēla (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs). Doublet of sequel. The plural form is a learned borrowing from Latin sequēlae.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian последица
  • последица (posledica)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Chinese Mandarin 後遺症 /后遗症
  • 後遺症 /后遗症 (hòuyízhèng)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Dutch sekwel
  • sekwelcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Finnish jälkitauti
  • jälkitauticondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
French séquelle
  • séquellecondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
German Folgeerscheinung, Folgezustand
  • Folgeerscheinungcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
  • Folgezustandcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Hungarian szövődmény
  • szövődménycondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Italian sequela
  • sequelacondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Japanese 後遺症
  • 後遺症 (kōishō)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Korean 후유증
  • 후유증 (huyujjeung)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Malay sekuela
  • sekuelacondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Norwegian Bokmål sekvele
  • sekvelecondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Polish następstwo
  • następstwocondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Portuguese sequela
  • sequelacondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Russian после́дствие, осложне́ние
  • после́дствие (poslédstvije)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
  • осложне́ние (osložnénije)condition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Spanish secuela
  • secuelacondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Swedish följdsjukdom, svit
  • följdsjukdomcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
  • svitcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
  • följdtillståndcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
  • sekvelecondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one
Vietnamese di chứng
  • di chứngcondition or disease which follows chronologically after an earlier one

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with sequela

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

sequela. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sequela

MLA

“sequela.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sequela. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sequela,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sequela.

Source: sequela on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.