symptom

plural symptoms

1. medicineA perceived change in some function, sensation or appearance of a person that indicates a disease or disorder, such as fever, headache or rash; strictly, a symptom is felt or experienced by the patient, while a sign can be detected by an observer.

   Swollen breasts, morning sickness, and a missed period are classic symptoms of pregnancy.

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   The doctor told that his coughing and sneezing was the symptom of standing for too long in the rain.

   Sometimes a change in olfactory experience is the only symptom in a patient who is otherwise healthy.

   1987 October, Avery N. Gilbert and Charles J. Wysocki, “Results of the Smell Survey”, in National Geographic, volume 172, number 4, page 520

   "Since hypertension doesn't usually cause symptoms, it flies below the radar, quietly damaging the vessels that deliver blood to your body and brain and increasing your risk of being blindsided by a heart attack or stroke."

   2026, Ginny Graves, quoting Rishi K. Wadhera, “The Most Important Health Metric You're Not Tracking”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 18

2. figurativelyA signal; anything that indicates, or is characteristic of, the presence of something else, especially of something undesirable.

   Lying, hiding one's true feelings, and having affairs are typical symptoms of a doomed marriage.

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   "Nay, nay," exclaimed Lord Norbourne, "I cannot go quite so far as that. I have, thanks to your hospitality, laid in a stock of health enough for the ensuing winter: but as to the general benevolence of which you talk, I confess I find no symptoms: if I did, they would alarm me more than those of the gout."

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 114–115

   Some people see birth outside of marriage as a social problem—a sign of a breakdown in the traditional family and a symptom of moral decay.

   2009, Charles Zastrow, Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare